Borrowing Courage to Find Your Own

Have you ever need to find the courage to step so far outside of your comfort zone that you found a different version of yourself?

That happened to me this past weekend.

I got on stage in front of 5,000 people, my biggest audience of my career, and the crowd was wild. The DJ was thumping out the beats. The announcer was reading my introduction with that "Let's get ready to rummmmmmmmble!" voice. And I... was... terrified.

But my brilliant friend Erin Gargan King convinced me to get up on stage in head to toe Limitless Yellow.

"Laura, you ALWAYS post about celebrities and stars standing proud in their #limitlessyellow... it's about time you did, too."

Don't you hate when people call you on your bullshit?

So... I did.

It turns out that you can't get on stage in head to toe Limitless Yellow and play small. I let the clothes carry me forward and, holy cow, I preached potential, pride, and possibility for 60 straight minutes of audience members laughing, crying, cheering... things I've never been able to do before. And at the end? The roar of 5,000 screaming people on their feet, a thrill that I still can't quite put into words.

That's some outfit, right?

So, here's what I know to be true this week: Sometimes you need to borrow courage until you find your own.

From the outside, I'm sure I looked courageous, strutting on stage to spread my message to the audience, undaunted, as I knew what the hell I was doing (I didn't). I speak and write with raw, reckless emotions as if I don't have a care in the world what people think of me (I do). I broadcase live on social media about my pain and my struggles as if they aren't terrifying to small children (It is).

But, I am making it all up as I go along, and always have been. Every single big moment.

I think we mistakenly ascribe courage to people who look bold, who act bold, who dress bold. So, when I was riddled with doubt and insecurity about how to be bold in front of this gigantic crowd, I decided to play the part. And it worked.

Why? Because everyone else is riddled with doubt and insecurity, too. So, when I strutted on stage looking courageous, the audience because courageous too. I called, they responded. Over and over, until the energy in the room was deafening.

This video is the last :26 of my talk. You can't even hear me over the audience getting louder and louder but it is the culmination of all 5,001 of us in that room finding our courage together. I started by changing how they'd perceive me, and in the end, I became even more.

Because of that outfit. But because I borrowed their courage until I found my own.