This past Saturday, I sang and accompanied myself on the guitar, my first time singing in front of a crowd of about 20 people.  I played my arrangement of one of my favorite songs: No Regrets by Mike Love.

Leading up to the actual performance, so many nerves and anxiety ran through my body. What if I mess up? What if I forget the lyrics? Minutes before I took the stage, my brain started playing tricks on me, suddenly unable to recall the lyrics to the chorus, despite me practicing this song probably over 100 times (bless my wife for listening to all these hours of practice). But because I’m familiar with my brain playing tricks on me — it does the same thing when I publicly speak — I simply drew in a couple deep breathes and put those thoughts to rest, trusting myself.

All in all, I feel proud. The performance went well and my wife recorded my recital and you can watch it here: