Play It Cool

Even if it isn’t written down or typed up in a Word document, most of us have a lifelong to-do list. Whether it’s traveling to all seven continents, buying a house, learning Italian, or mastering meringue-making, we all have goals and dreams to pursue. But some of them are laden with fear: can I really do ______?

Joanna Torreano had wanted to act in a play for a long time, but the fear of auditioning left her putting it off until she was well into her 40s. When she saw a notice about "West Side Story" auditions, she knew from the get-go that she wasn’t qualified: she could neither “sing 16 bars of a song” nor had any “dance attire.” But guess what? She went anyway!

To her surprise, she got the part! In the process, Torreano met many talented people, including a young actor with his own “bucket list.” She says, “My philosophy has always been to try things. Some have been utter failures. And some attempts have been successful.”

Do you have any dreams you were terrified of pursuing but found that they worked out in the end? [RedOrbit.com]