{"componentChunkName":"component---src-templates-story-js","path":"/story/feet-dont-fail-me-a/","result":{"pageContext":{"data":{"id":"-0d74a139-0eeb-57b8-8cd9-7386f7fe7ded","authorFirstName":"Allison","storyTitle":"Feet Don't Fail Me","photo":{"asset":{"url":"https://cdn.sanity.io/images/nr9digz2/production/5c3b8181d842352426b1ac1c7d8c13b147e4fd85-800x600.jpg"}},"audio":{"asset":{"url":"https://cdn.sanity.io/files/nr9digz2/production/e64e8cbb0e2ded1c134f25ad358fbf9f4724180c.mp3"}},"secondLanguageAudio":null,"school":{"name":"LEAD Innovation Studio","city":null,"location":"Missouri"},"tags":[],"_rawText":[{"_key":"3fd55f4149a3","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"d46a775d70c50","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"“Let us welcome to the stage Park Hill South.” I take a deep breath, smile, and begin to walk on stage repeating the words in my head, “left, right, left, right” in my head so I stay on beat with the rest of my team. As I get to my spot on the floor, nerves and excitement course through my veins. “Ladies your music is on.” I hear the music begin to fill the room, and I exude a sense of pride to be on that stage, but more importantly, I feel unbelievably confident. And in that moment I began to remember a time in my life when I never thought that would be possible. A time where I didn't feel comfortable in my own skin, let alone confident."}],"markDefs":[],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"1fcdf9555446","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"2aac8ea8d54d0","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"\n"}],"markDefs":[],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"ecce6777f602","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"11b2089e75720","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"It was July of 2015, and I stood backstage waiting to perform my solo “Be Wild.” I always dreaded walking on stage alone and having the focus be solely on me. I had gone through this process several times throughout the year, but it never seemed to get easier. This time was different, though, I was about to dance in front of a crowd that was bigger than I was used to. Maybe it was the nerves of being on stage by myself or my lack of self-confidence that made me unable to walk on stage. I felt overwhelmed to the point where I stumbled into the audience and told my mom that I felt so sick I wasn't able to perform. That wasn’t a complete lie either, my stomach felt like it had been flipped inside out."}],"markDefs":[],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"9c2115ef80ce","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"3eb5eecc1d4a0","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"\n"}],"markDefs":[],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"53fd22127750","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"ee6352a066580","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"She pulled me outside and tried to reassure me that I was okay. “Just take a deep breath, and you will feel better.” I tried to calm myself down, but all I could do was imagine myself frozen on stage with the eyes of hundreds of people focused on me. “I don’t think I can do this,” I confessed to my mom. “Maybe I should just not perform.” I tried to convince her to let me skip my dance and be done with everything, but she refused. “You haven't come all this way and practiced this much to quit.” I wish I could say her words reassured me, but I still wanted to leave and never perform my solo. I made one last feeble attempt to get myself out of the situation, but I was unsuccessful. I walked back inside and made my way backstage. “You're up next,” the worker told me. I felt my legs carry me up the stairs and onto the stage even though it was the last thing I wanted."}],"markDefs":[],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"a0ddf1a5e052","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"9bfead867d850","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"\n"}],"markDefs":[],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"a22db6e0db70","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"6c31d6dabd900","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"You would probably assume that I overcame my fear and executed my dance flawlessly all in that one day. That would have been too easy. But experiences, conversations, and a little bit of soul searching over the next 6 years transformed me into who I am today. Someone who learned you can always grow from your own mistakes. Someone who finally accepted you can’t expect perfection from an imperfect human, especially when it’s yourself. And when I look back on that specific day, I don’t dwell on the anxiety, nerves, or stomachache I felt, because I remind myself without the person I used to be, I would have never become the person I am now. And that’s a person who never thinks about quitting before they've even started."}],"markDefs":[],"style":"normal"}]}}},"staticQueryHashes":["3309388390","890781507"]}