Archie wanted to be an actor, but his stage fright prevented him from acting. Looking out at the audience made Archie feel like the judgment of the demons of hell was staring back at him. Archie thought no one believed in his performances, and it would doom him forever.
Archie decided to stop performing until he conquered his stage fright once and for all. Archie tried everything to best his fear. He talked to therapists, and he did visualizations. He designed his bedroom to look like a stage, so he slept surrounded by his fear.
The more Archie tried to conquer his fear, however, the worse it got. His friends would try, show after show, to get Archie back on stage, but he declined—still fearful.
Then, one day, by chance, he met the famous actor Charles Matthews. Mathews sat eating a sandwich when Archie accosted him.
“I’m sorry to bother you,” Archie said, approaching the legend. “But I have a really big problem, and I think you could help.”
“Get me a cookie,” Matthews said in an Irish accent. Matthews was American, but he was a great actor. Archie went to the counter, got Matthews a cookie, and then laid out his problem.
“I have terrible stage fright,” Archie said. “I decided to conquer my fear before continuing to act, but I’ve made no progress.”
“Who told you to stop acting?” Matthews said.
“Well, I hadn’t run into a famous actor like you yet to set me straight,” Archie said.
Matthews leaned into Archie and whispered, “Charles Matthews still has stage fright.”
“You do?” Archie yelled.
The actor shushed him, “Keep it down. It’s a secret.”
“The only thing I’ve found to get over stage fright is to perform constantly. I act for restaurant servers and bus passengers and even at local high schools. You have to keep performing.”
“So I’m never going to conquer my fear?” Archie asked.
“Probably not,” Matthews said, “But you’ll keep it at bay.”
Archie thanked the actor and started to leave, but then he turned back. “Do you really have stage fright, or are you just acting?”
Mathews smiled and gave the actor a small salute before turning his attention back to the sandwich.