He has not learned the lesson of life who does not every day surmount a fear.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Do one thing every day that scares you.
-Eleanor Roosevelt
Courage is being afraid but going on anyhow.
-Dan Rather
About a week ago, Dad got a call from the #1 live digital recording guy in town. Seems he found himself needing to record two events at the same time on two different dates in November. Being that he's not awesome enough to be in two places at once, he wondered if Dad wanted to record the gigs. Dad, ever cautious and logical, explained that he was reworking his recording setup and wanted to give a definite answer on Monday so he would have time to test out the new system over the weekend.
When he got off the phone he told the rest of us what the call was about, and we were practically jumping up and down with excitement. Recording gigs for Dad. Paying gigs! And not one, but two!
Later that evening as I was making my next day's lunch I asked Dad if he was excited about the prospect of having two paying gigs. He admitted that he was excited, but also nervous. “What if something goes wrong?” he asked. The worst-case scenario, I said, would be if something happened and he lost the entire recording. In that case, you apologize to the customer and tell them that they don't have to pay you. Yes, it's a live event, but unless it's someone's wedding or another once-in-a-lifetime event it's not the worst loss in the world if something happens to the recording. Certainly no one is going to die over it. Then I said that I've discovered that it's important in life to push yourself outside your comfort zone from time to time. Sometimes doing a new thing is scary, but if you never try then you never know, and you might miss out on something great. I offered that I was very nervous the first time I needed to install a CGI script for a web client, but I was able to get it done (granted, with hand-holding from a more knowledgeable person) and in doing so I learned a new skill.
Secretly I was feeling more and more awkward the more I spoke, so after that I stopped talking. Hopefully my advice didn't sound hollow and fake because of it; what I said is the truth, and it has been learned through experience and not just by listening to “The Sunscreen Song” multiple times. Why was it awkward? I think it was the first time in all my life that I have ever given advice to my father. It was a complete reversal of roles and felt very unfamiliar to me. Mom and I give each other advice all the time; she and I are on more of an even plane in that respect. But my relationship with Dad has always featured him as the wise master and me as the student of life, the learner. How could I have learned something about life in only 31 years that he has not learned in over 60?
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