“A dark voice inside me said I didn’t deserve to be here and pointed to the past. Yet, that day, with a surprising new store of strength, I pushed it back. I had the power to stop being afraid of failure. I had failed in the past, I might fail in the future, but I didn’t have to waste energy on being embarrassed about the outcome, good or bad. Even if things were hard or confusing to navigate, I’d be okay, no matter what.”
