He navigated his way through a throng of people with his eyes fixed on me. I knew instantly he was "the one." By the time he stood in front of me his brown eyes were misty, "I have to tell you... that song... I mean the way you sang... um, I don't know, it just moved something in me. It was... MAGNIFICIENT!" Yes, he was without a doubt "the one." I am talking about that one person who needed to hear the message that I was supposed to deliver through my gift of singing. It all made sense now, but that had looked differently just 12 hours earlier.
The night before this encounter, I had the joy and honor to sing in the annual Thanksgiving concert at our church, a tradition that I am both proud and humbled to have started 13 years ago. I really looked forward to the evening and was excited about performing. And then, about 90 minutes before I was to sing, I had an accident.
I had just made a huge mug of hot tea to keep warm in our drafty old cathedral. I was walking back into the sanctuary with my tea when someone called to me. I turned abruptly causing a wave of near boiling water to splash out of the cup and onto my chest. I quickly ripped my scarf and top from my body, but not quickly enough to avoid first and second degree burns on my breast and upper abdomen. I improvised on first aid using wet towels and cold containers of margarine from the church refrigerator to cool the burned areas. After about 20 minutes of cooling, I was able to change into my outfit for the concert. I pinned my bolero to my strapless jumpsuit and used a little mineral powder so that the redness and the blisters that were forming wouldn't show. They were however beginning to hurt much more than in the first minutes of the burn. There was not much else to do. The show must go on.
As I listened to the other performances and awaited my turn, doubts suddenly began to creep up on me. "Maybe I burned myself, because I am not supposed to sing tonight. I'm not that great a singer any way. The pianist and I only had time to go through the song once. What if I totally bomb and ruin the concert?" The chatter increased and suddenly so did the painfulness across my swelling burns.
STOP! Just stop! I spoke firmly inside my own head. I remembered the promise I made to myself and the universe months ago that I will use every talent I have to bring a message that inspires and empowers people in their lives. Now was the time to center myself firmly in my purpose and return to my place of confidence that comes from my Higher Power.
Whenever my confidence starts to waiver and my inner critic starts to chatter and tries to convince me that I am not enough in some way, or that my voice doesn't matter, there is a mantra that I use to ground me in the truth. It is this: "My voice always reaches the person who needs to hear it and is ready to use my message to empower him in his life." Whether I deliver the message through a coaching session, a consulting report or even a song, is not important. I simply have to trust that it will reach the person for whom it is intended and touch that person's life in a meaningful way.
In the moments before I went on stage, I reminded myself that all any of us can do is to do and give our best in every situation. And to do that, we first have to get over ourselves, get over our doubts and show up! That is what I did. I got over myself, my fear of failing and looking foolish. I shook of the doubts and embraced my message and my voice. As I reclaimed my confidence, the pain of the burns faded into the background.
I put on my best smile, took the stage and delivered a less than stellar performance of "You Pulled Me Through," a song made popular by the amazing singer Jennifer Hudson. My performance included missing a cue and a badly cracked note. And yet, there he was, "the one." Before me stood the person who needed to hear that song and that message about the power of love and commitment that pulls us through even the bleakest, darkest times. And he needed to hear it in my unique and imperfect voice.
This story happened to take place in a cathedral but stories like it happen everywhere all over the world in our private lives and in our businesses. Remember that, the next time your inner critic starts whispering in your ear and the buzzards of fear and doubt circle and hover over you and what you are called to do in the world. There is someone out there, "the one" waiting for you and whose life will be beautifully touched and changed by your message, in your unique voice, but you have to show up first.
P.S. Here's a link to a video clip of that less-than-perfect performance: https://youtu.be/ctrfK5q9gwI.
Are you ready to step up and show up in your unique way and let your message and voice by heard so that you can have the impact you were meant to have in the world? If you want to make a bigger difference using all your God-given gifts, there is no better time than now. Click on this link to schedule a time for me to help you get started: https://www.timetrade.com/book/92SRK.