If the whole world was blind, who would you impress?

This week I was speaking with someone who I had just met, they had asked me how had I gotten the courage to get up on stage, they felt they could never do it because they were scared. I had to think about it for a minute, I could remember being scared but I never took the time to think about why. I wasn't scared to walk out onto stage in front of a crowd of people, although initially that's what most people must assume would scare you about a competition. In fact, I was scared to disappoint myself. I had an overwhelming feeling of terror inside the whole time backstage that I wasn't going to do what I set out to do. I knew I only had those two minutes on stage and I have never wanted anything more in life than to perform what I had practiced for hours upon hours for months leading up to the date of the competition. I saw this quote this week and felt that it rang true to my personal experience with competing as well as so many other aspects in life. I think far too often people worry too much about other people's perception of them. As I grow older the decisions I make in my life are more about me and my goals and what I want to achieve personally, and less about what others think about my decisions. The moral of my story is, praise and acceptance is a part of life, and is more than appreciated, but what molds you into the person you are meant to become is the standards you hold for yourself and the goals you set for yourself to achieve a more powerful, stronger YOU.