Last week I got a call asking if I could sing at the "International Showdown Hockey Tournament" on Sunday. There were teams from BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and NWT, plus Alaska, making this an international event. I was asked to sing both The Star-Spangled Banner and O Canada.

"Do you know the American anthem?" Tamara asked me.

"I know the melody and about half the words," I replied. "But I have four days to get them down, so that's no problem."

"Or you can just have a piece of paper with you just in case," she said.

Strangely, that innocent and well-intentioned suggestion filled me with doubt. The Star-Spangled Banner, as you undoubtedly know, is a very militaristic anthem; it is filled with vivid imagery, and it tells a story. Both those things generally make memorizing a lyric much easier. But of course I didn't immediately know them all and each time I faltered would bring a fresh wave of doubt.

I sang the Star-Spangled Banner yesterday morning, strongly and simply, with no vocal acrobatics, making sure each note rang true in its place. The words were all there, without a cheat sheet, and only one tiny moment of panic as I wondered if I'd remember the next line. It wasn't difficult, and yet I had let someone else's thinking shake my confidence for days. Why?

Life keeps teaching me that we create many obstacles in our own minds. Often it's hard to even recognize the limitations we put on ourselves. I may need to keep learning this lesson over and over, but I think I have taken a baby step closer to "getting" it. Next time I feel doubt or fear, it is a good time to consider what limitation I have placed on myself . . . an obstacle that probably isn't even real. Then we'll see if I figure out how to destroy that wall in my own mind.