When was the last time you did something that terrified you? I mean something that ignited butterflies in your belly and caused your knees to jiggle.

Most of us don’t intentionally seek out situations that make us uncomfortable. We don’t rush headlong into activities that scare us or expose our vulnerabilities. Who wants to look stupid? Foolish? Wrong?

But we should. We should look to get out of our comfort zone. Extend our selves past our safe place and embrace the new no matter how much fear it produces.

Last weekend I attended an Improv Class at a local theatre. Yes…me. All by my lonesome. I walked into that theatre (saying to myself over and over ‘I can’t believe I’m doing this.’) and introduced myself to a room full of strangers. Boy was I nervous. Almost as nervous as that time I repelled down the side of a two-story building. Yeah really. Don’t judge me. I was going through a G.I. Joe Barbie phase.

Remember this is a ‘Judgment Free Zone’. Lol

Back to Improv…I don’t have a history in the Arts. Matter of fact, I’m as far from theater as you can be. I have a bachelor’s degree in Business and, just for good measure, a MBA. My background is very much regimented, strict, serious and predictable.

I sat there and looked around that lovely little theatre. Everyone looked so artsy and interesting. And after listening to their introductions it seemed that most of them had some type of background in theater. And…the majority of them were a hell of a lot younger than me. Lovely.

It took me awhile as I tried to calm my nerves and loosen up a little. The truth is growth is uncomfortable; at least that’s what I told myself. ‘Relax. Forget who you are. Make believe, make believe, make believe’.

The guy in charge was great. He started us out slow, giving us several group activities that served several purposes, to loosen us up and to get us in a rhythm.

Here’s a link to quite a few activities. http://learnimprov.com/?page_id=33

Zip, Zap, Zoom and Clap Focus are just a couple examples of activities that we did in class.

It was great. I started to relax a little bit. I definitely got into a rhythm. And…this is the important part…I started to have fun. A lot of fun.

Until…

I found myself on stage alone. That moment almost undid me. Okay, okay…so I wasn’t alone. It was I and another person, but BOY was it scary. And fun. I mean…when it was over I wanted to go again. That’s how much fun it was. And it is something that I would do again. And again. And again.

Hear me when I say this…Do something that scares you. I’m giving you permission. Open up another browser window as soon as you finish reading this and find something that you’ve never done before.

Should I dare you? Well I double-dog dare you!

Do it for yourself. Do something you’ve always wanted to do. Do something you’ve never thought about doing. Do something that you overhear someone else talking about. Do something that you once thought was stupid.

But…DO SOMETHING!

There are a couple of don’ts. Don’t tell your oldest and dearest friends. (They’ll look at you crazy. They’ll ask you if you’re crazy. And they just might succeed in lovingly talking you out of it. Why? Because you’re messing up the program man. You’re about to take the red pill.) Don’t reschedule. Don’t post it on Facebook. Don’t ‘what-if’ yourself to death before you get there. Don’t talk yourself out of it.

And when you’re standing there with butterflies exploding and your knees jiggling, just know that somewhere, someone else is feeling the exact same way.

When it’s over you’ll be super proud of yourself. And, you’ll have a story to tell.