Clearly for me, it’s the night before The Biggest _____ of my life.
I left that blank so I can keep you readers on your toes. But, you’re probably curious as to how I’m feeling. No? Well, I’m going to tell you anyway.
I FEEL NERVOUS.
I mean, why wouldn’t I? It’s The Biggest _____ of my life! I think the key thing to understand though is that I’m still just a college student with much life ahead of me, regardless of how tomorrow goes.
But I’ve had The Biggest [game, date, test, blog, etc.] before, so, why am I still nervous? I’m clearly still here after those events. They didn’t drastically alter my life but they provided learning cues for me to be able to write this blog.
I think one of the most important things I’ve learned is that I’m not the only one who’s feeling or has felt this way before. Everybody started as a nervous person faced with a daunting task. If you can understand you’re not alone in your situation, I think it provides quite the cool down of emotion.
Because you really don’t want to be jittery going into The Biggest _____ of your life. You must cool your emotions! Have a glass of water, listen to music, and do whatever you need to do to relax yourself before the event.
I can tell you I’ve gotten nervous just thanking somebody before. I’m serious. I was literally thanking someone for a favor and I was shaking and stumbling my words a little bit. Isn’t that crazy?
To me, it was! I was shocked at my reaction to that situation. I told myself, “You’ve walked into bigger situations and more nerve-racking moments than just saying ‘thank you’ to someone. What the hell was that?'”
Being able to evaluate myself and know where I went wrong is a big factor too. If you can break down your mistakes and weaknesses and turn them into strengths, you’re walking on rose petals.
Now, when I go to thank somebody in the future, I’ll know that it’s really weird to be nervous about saying thank you to someone and it won’t happen again.
I also think of my younger brother in a recent learning opportunity of mine. My former high school’s football team just won the 8A State Championship of Illinois. With my older brother as a coach and my younger brother as a player, I was able to live vicariously through them as I reminisced my days of being a part of that great football program.
I got to be a part of another state title run for Lincoln-Way East back in 2012. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out the way we wanted it and in all reality, no other game I ever played after that one ever came close to the magnitude of that loss.
As I bombarded my brother with congratulations and a hug after the semi-final win to go to state, he and a few of his teammates responded the same way: “We’ve got one more to go.”
The way they viewed a state title game really had an effect on me. I was so incredibly proud of the poise within my brother and his teammates. It’s changed the way I have to think before tomorrow.
Even a State Championship football game is just that– a football game. There’s no reason why you should view The Biggest _____ of your life as anything more than just a regular _____.
If the learning opportunities are learned from and the correct actions are taken at the time to take them, you’ll be fine. I’ll be fine. I just have to be myself, prepare correctly, and react the right way.
I appreciate you, reader, for reading this small vent session before my big day tomorrow. But, if my Biggest _____ steps have helped you in any way, I wish you luck in your endeavors.
It’s not everyday you have the opportunity at The Biggest _____ of your life. So, 1) Make it count when you do. 2) Relax. 3) Evaluate past mistakes in similar situations and capitalize upon them to make yourself better. And 4) It’s just another _____ so just go in there and attack it!
~DS
The Danny Diaries 