My current risk
Currently, I am taking a major risk: I decided to join the CU volleyball club. I have only played volleyball for 8 weeks, and in sand for that matter. I ended up trying out for the team and making A team. This surprised me, as I didn't expect to make such a good impression in tryouts. Being fairly new to volleyball, I am still very unpolished and don't know half of the skills/knowledge to play. This scares me a lot because I feel very inadequate, and there's a looming cloud over me saying I will disappoint the team through my inexperience.
This is a major risk for me because I can have bad social anxiety at times, and I am continuously followed by a fear of failure and rejection. I have been doing a lot of work for my mental health in the past couple years, however, and I thought that this could be a great opportunity for multiple reasons: I love the sport, new community, improving my skills, overcoming fear, and more.
Now, I still am very worried about my current situation; however, there are a couple things I have been telling myself that are making this new endeavor possible:
- The most important thing I can do is try my best, and keep a positive attitude, believing in myself
- It doesn't matter if I disappoint people, or if they get frustrated with me, their opinions shouldn't (don't) contain the power to make me abandon/quit something I enjoy
- If I can't handle A team pressure, I can always play with the B team
- If I end up disliking my experience or the season, it's only a couple hundred bucks and some time playing a sport I like -- no big deal in the grand scheme of things
Hey Mike,
ReplyDeleteCongrats on joining the new volleyball club! I would definitely communicate with your teammates about your concerns, you never know - someone may have less experience than you do! Trying out and getting in already showed they don't mind and you can only get better from here. I have a huge competitive streak and thats what fuels me but I totally relate on fear of rejection. I used to play on a team and made some good friends from it. All being said, while winning is great, the focus about the club should be about having fun. I think you'll do just fine and am sure everything will go well for you as you continue to learn :)
Hey Mike!
ReplyDeleteI played volleyball all four years of high school and decided to not tryout out for the team. After hearing about your success I'm kind of sad I didn't but will play in the intramural league since it has less time commitment. Everyone I've played with has picked up the basics really quickly -- so you'll be fine even if you feel inexperienced. Good luck and have fun. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do!
Hey congratulations on making the team! I think it's awesome that you took the risk to try something even though you were not sure you would make the team. I feel like that accomplishment in itself is huge and you should not put too much pressure on yourself to perform. I think that this experience will help you grow as a person, and I hope you are up for the challenge. Keep pushing yourself to do better and I'm sure you will have lots of success in volleyball. I bet you will meet lots of new people and create some new friendships. Do not worry about social anxiety as everyone deals with it.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on joining the volleyball club, and you can tell your teammates about your concerns
ReplyDeleteTaking risks can be a scary but rewarding thing.
ReplyDelete