{"id":22787,"date":"2026-03-11T13:37:24","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T13:37:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/uncategorized\/the-story-of-my-life\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T06:14:57","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T06:14:57","slug":"the-story-of-my-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/health-and-wellness\/life-advice\/managing-life-changes\/the-story-of-my-life\/","title":{"rendered":"The Story of My Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

They left me in the dark little room and closed the door. I tried to keep clam, to stay focused, to not freak out. Then they told me, through the headphones strapped to my ears, to step up to the microphone.<\/p>\n

What in the world was I doing here? I should never have said yes to this.<\/p>\n

When I wrote an article for the April edition of GUIDEPOSTS magazine, I was excited to write a story about a personal change in my life. I could handle writing. I know how to do that. I feel secure with my fingers on a keyboard. But when the magazine\u2019s audio team asked if I wanted to read my story for the audio version<\/a> of the magazine, I didn\u2019t exactly jump at the chance.<\/p>\n

Why would anyone want to listen to me<\/em> read? My voice is not trained in any way (when I was about eight, my mom told me I sing like a frog, and that was pretty much the end of my vocal aspirations), and I\u2019ve always had a bit of a lisp. I always think I sound like a dork when I hear myself on tape. Plus, I\u2019ve listened to some boring recordings in my life.<\/p>\n

I did not want the story I\u2019d worked so hard on to be turned into a snoozefest. I thought they should just hire a professional actor, someone who knows what they\u2019re doing. And they would have\u2014I didn\u2019t have to accept.<\/p>\n

But then I wondered: what was the worst that could happen? If I tried to read and completely mangled the story, they probably just wouldn\u2019t use it. If I wasted a few hours of time in a studio, I\u2019d just work late to make it up. Was my own insecurity really going to keep me from trying something new? I had no idea what to expect in a recording studio\u2014but that was exactly the reason I should give it a shot. <\/p>\n

\u201cSure,\u201d I said. \u201cI\u2019ll try it. I\u2019ll read my story.\u201d<\/p>\n

So this morning I found myself crammed into a little padded room, earphones strapped to my head, staring at a microphone, praying I wouldn\u2019t sound like too much of an idiot. And you know what? I don\u2019t think anyone is going to hire me for my vocal talent anytime soon, but it went okay.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t get laughed out of the room. I made it all the way through my story without breaking down in frustrated tears. I didn\u2019t appear to waste too much of anyone\u2019s time. And best of all, I tried something new. In my book, that counts as a successful day.<\/p>\n

Beth Adams is the creator and editor of GUIDEPOSTS’<\/em> Home to Heather Creek<\/a> fiction series.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

They left me in the dark little room and closed the door. I tried to keep clam, to stay focused, to not freak out. Then they told me, through the headphones strapped to my ears, to step up to the microphone. What in the world was I doing here? 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