Fear?

Fear of failure or Fear of success? Which one motivates and opens doors? Which one closes those doors and maintains the status quo? I have been thinking about this for a couple weeks now as the end of the school quarter approaches and finals are rearing their heads. One of the things I have been fearful of has been the knife skills test coming up on Friday. The test involves making 10 specific cuts on potatoes, tomato, carrots, onion, shallots, garlic, parsley and an orange in 30 minutes or under. The test is graded on speed, precision, preparation, and sanitation (keeping the work area clean). So far I am taking more than 30 minutes, we are docked 1 point per minute over, and I am a little fearful of not doing well. I have practiced the run through a couple of times, and will do it 2 more times before taking the test. The driver on this has been fear of failure – which ultimately motivates me in order to succeed. I will push myself to do better each try, be more precise and do it faster. I know this will open other doors once I have moved past it.


I experienced a similar fear prior to enrolling in school asking myself, “what if I don’t succeed?” I don’t think I have ever asked myself, “…what happens if I do succeed?” or at least worry about it – because the answer would be to stop and not try, maintaining the status quo, at least that which is comfortable and easy. Change is scary; you don’t know what will happen, you may not be sure of the experience; different can be hard. But then again, it is liberating, it is life expanding and right now it is fun! I will keep you posted on how things go.