To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else—means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting. - E.E. Cummings
It was a winter's night in 2020 and I was feeling the chill of December in my bones when I received a single email that would change my life.
It was from an editor at a massive publishing house asking me if I wanted to take on the challenge of writing a book that would scare my soul.
I mean, who wouldn't jump at the opportunity, right? These kinds of invitations don't come around often, and I knew I had to seize it with both hands.
And let me tell you, writing that book was a journey unlike any other. It’s packed with stories of courage, and each one of them is special in its own way.
But there's one story that I hold very close to my heart.
I invite you to read it, maybe let it stir your soul, and to use it as inspiration for this week's challenge.
Johanna
Johanna grew up ensconced in LA’s throbbing 1970s acting and art scene, the daughter of a prominent entertainment agent father and a teacher-and-writer mom.
As soon as she could walk and talk, she was dancing and performing. She would spend weekends at the Directors Guild seeing movies and voraciously attended as much theater as possible. When Johanna graduated from high school, she entered the Groundlings Theatre & School, a famous center for improvisational comedy.
In all ways, she loved performing and performers.
Always close with her father, she would watch Los Angeles Lakers’ games with him. As he would cheer on the Lakers players, however, Johanna’s attention was focused on another kind of performer.
She was fascinated by the cheerleaders.
She loved their enthusiasm and athleticism. She watched them, enraptured, memorizing their routines, delivering imaginary color commentaries in her head as they leapt and tumbled: Oh, that was a great twisting double flip there! Yes, but her legs could have been straighter. Good point; there’s some work to be done on the form, but all in all, a great routine so far.
One day, she promised herself, she would be one of them.
When I first met Johanna twenty years later and after her relocation to the Midwest, she was living a life far from the lofty visions of her youth.
Life, instead, felt to her like a cascading set of challenges.
She was now a divorced mom of three young children, reeling from a recent bout of lymphoma. The cancer was finally in remission, but the disease had left her tired and bewildered— and her day‑to‑day drained her further.
She was working as a nurse for a company that paired her with patients living in horrendous circumstances; she’d often use a portion of her modest salary to buy essentials for her patients.
• • •
When I founded Scare Your Soul, Johanna loved the idea of taking action to battle fear. We talked about it, and she quickly asked if she could participate. “Of course,” I said. “I just want you to find one thing that you NEED to do . . . something that will scare the hell out of you . . . and when you do it, it will unlock something that has been locked away for a long time.”
She thought about it and then called me.
She had an idea. “A really good one,” she told me.
The next day, Johanna called the as‑of‑then- unknown athletic director at Shaker Heights High School, a large and well- known public school in Cleveland’s eastern suburbs. She got his voicemail and left a message:
“Hello! You don’t know me, but my name is Johanna. I am a mother, nurse, cancer survivor, and a participant in the Scare Your Soul courage movement. I have always wanted to be a cheerleader. And I am wondering if there is any way on God’s green earth that you could help me make that happen. I can’t even believe I am making this call right now, but if you think you can help, would you call me back?”
Two days later, she received the call.
The coach— and every single one of the members of the Shaker Heights Raiders cheerleading squad— had voted unanimously. She would train with them for a full week, learn the cheers, and cheer with them at the stadium for the biggest game of the year.
Johanna hung up and broke into tears of joy.
The next week was a blur of practices, learning routines, trial and error. But because of her background as a dancer and performer, she was a quick study. A lingering fear stuck in her mind, however. As she would tell me later, “I was really nervous about shoving my size sixteen body into a high school cheerleading uniform.”At the last practice, they handed Johanna that Raider cheerleading uniform.
It fit perfectly.
The morning of the big game, Johanna found herself alone in the high school bathroom, pinning her curly hair back into a bun. As she looked at herself in the mirror, fear intruded. She suddenly felt ridiculous. “Who does this? What middle- aged nurse does something so silly?”
As she and the squad jogged from the tunnel into the lights of Rupp Field, she looked at the other cheerleaders’ slender bodies. She thought, I can’t turn back, but I can’t move ahead! Fear was overtaking her.
In her ears, she heard the announcer say, “Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for your Shaker Raider cheerleaders! And joining them is special guest Johanna! Mother of three and a cancer survivor, Johanna is living out her dream of being a cheerleader here tonight!”
Johanna and the squad ran across the infield and onto the side of the field. As they came to a halt, Johanna turned to face a crowd numbering in the hundreds.
A crowd that, person by person, stood to give her a standing ovation.
And when she sat in the stands afterward, there was a steady stream of adults who came to congratulate her. The superintendent had tears in his eyes. One woman in her fifties, misty with emotion, gave Johanna a hug, saying, “I have always wanted to do what you did but never had the bravery. Thank you for what you did. Thank you on behalf of all of us.”
Johanna has a special photo that was taken that night. It’s a shot of her next to two football players grinning from ear to ear. She keeps that photo handy on her phone.
It reminds her that she is always one courageous act from living a dream.
This Week’s Challenge:
You have a dream inside you.
I know it’s there.
Maybe its been long dormant, asleep in the haze of your life’s buzz of busyness. Or maybe it was quashed by an authority figure who said you were
Too young
Too stupid
Too fat
Too anxious
Too poor
Too naive
For decades, Johanna had a vibrant cheerleader pressed down deeply within her. And with intention and sheer guts, she sprung her. That cheerleader - cooped up for so long - ran, leapt, laughed, cried.
Triumphed.
What is one thing that you need to do? One part of you that needs to see the light of day again?
This week, I invite you to dig back and remember what used to light you up.
Yes, just remembering is a courageous act.
And maybe … just maybe … you’re also ready to take one step onto the football field in your size 16 cheerleading uniform.
Maybe it’s finally your turn to leap.
Coming Up!
Wednesday, February 22 • 7:47 PM EST
Are you ready to take your gratitude to the next level and connect with like-minded individuals? Then don't miss out on the opportunity to join us at the upcoming Gratitude Event! This free, interactive and empowering event - led by Gratitude and Pasta’s Chris Schembra - is designed to help you tap into the power of gratitude and deepen your connection with others.