- Written by James Thompson
It can be tough to talk in front of a group, to fight the raging demon deep down inside known as “anxiety”. It is like a force-field prevents a person from opening up or trying new things, keeping the person that has it trapped in what feels like a bubble. A man name Harold had struggled with it his entire life, but now he found his struggle would intensify with his newest job: Radio host.
He had been hired on to host the morning radio show at a local station, completely fearing that he would botch it up. His anxiety had always been difficult for him to manage, so he sat in the recording booth breathing in and out as he waited for the recording to begin. Ian, Harold’s new boss approached him and sat beside him, “You got this!”
Harold sighed, “Anyone can say ‘you got this’, but what if I don’t?”
“Relax, Harold! There will never be a perfect broadcast, you can try as hard as you can but things will slip through the cracks. What you do is do what you can, and if you need us to take a break for any reason, just let us know!”
“Alright…”
They then began the broadcast and Harold’s nervousness increased tenfold, he was sputtering and unable to say anything. Ian motioned for them to stop and sat beside him, “What’s wrong? You do college radio fine, alone with podcasts and livestreams!
Harold twiddled his thumbs, “I feel those are a lot different, those are smaller audiences and not filled with people who potentially know me.”
Ian winked, “Don’t worry about what people think of you over the radio, or what your first performance will be like. You were picked for the job because you have talent in it, don’t let that talent rot away!”
“So what do I do to make it perfect?”
“Just focus on what you want in the moment. You’re not aiming for perfection, like I mentioned earlier. Anxiety is like a wild animal, but it can be caged! And I have the feeling you’ll be able to do just that.”
Harold breathed in and out repeatedly as he recomposed himself, “You’re right. I’ll do the best I can with this!”
“Good job, that’s all we ask!”
And so, the broadcast continued. Harold’s anxiety soon melted away as it continued, though some of his shakiness remained. As Ian said, it wasn’t a perfect broadcast as their were many flubs and mistakes. But Harold knew that he was doing a good job and that he wouldn’t let anxiety rule his destiny, that was something only he should be allowed to do.