Fear

Despite the loud craziness that comes out of Cole, he is my most shy child.

He is always avoiding public speaking and rarely volunteers for things.

Ethan on the other hand is always the first person to volunteer, to offer help, or to speak in public.

In Tae Kwon Do the higher belt kids take turns leading the class warm-ups each day.  Ethan volunteers regularly and he leads the class with such wonderful confidence.

Cole has avoided this opportunity like the plague, until last week when one of his instructors called on him to lead the warm-up.  Cole instantly turned bright red and told his instructor "No".  Well, you don't tell Tae Kwon Do instructors no.  The class received a huge lecture.  Cole insisted he was not comfortable to do this and so the instructor asked someone else, but not before Cole was so embarrassed he was in tears.  The instructor pulled him aside and talked with him for a while about doing hard things and overcoming fears.  He challenged Cole to volunteer to lead warm-ups for the next class.

The next class was today.  Cole practice all weekend long leading our family in the warm-up exercises (it's basically running some laps, jumping jacks, and stretches, but all in Korean).  Cole was nervous and kept telling me his stomach hurt.  We talked more about facing your fears and I offered a bribe of a Wendy's Frosty after class :)

When the time came, Cole quickly volunteered and lead the class through warm-ups.  His voice started out quiet and shy, but rose with confidence toward the end.  He did it!  

It was so hard for me to watch him last week feel so uncomfortable in class, even to the point of tears, because he was nervous and shy.  But, man it was rewarding to watching him squash that fear and do something that was hard for him.  So proud of you Cole!