Aunjaney,

Many of us feel afraid when trying new things, including myself. This is where we build our courage, however. Consider: when we try something new, we’re going to bumble and stumble as we figure out what’s going on. This happens. It sounds like you jump into other people’s heads and judge yourself from their eyes. In general, people are far too involved in their own life to pay much mind to others. Said differently, you’re not that interesting, so when you try and fail (which we all do, over and over until we learn to find our feet) people might laugh, then get bored and go back to their daily do. And there you will be, a little closer to your dream of being courageous.

From a different direction, consider that when you go to sleep at night, whether you did what you were afraid of or did not do what you were afraid of will not change that you’ll wake up the next morning. Another day, so make it a good one. You don’t have all that many to waste!

With warmth,
Matt