It’s time to be transparent – I have to admit it and I’m not going to cover it up anymore: I am easily intimidated.

To those who know me, you may be saying, “What’s the big secret?” To those who don’t, you may be thinking, Yes, me too.
To say this past week has been busy is a huge understatement. I started a new writing project that’s been more involved than I imagined. But then again, I always underestimate how much time something will take, how difficult it will be and the outcome. I’m always the first to say, “Yep, let’s do it – this will be fun!”

This project is a labor of love and I’ve learned so much in the process. One thing I’ve learned that I really don’t like is how intimidated I am by those I hold in high esteem. With the writing project I have to interview people I really don’t know. This isn’t usually a problem for me; I don’t find it difficult to call a complete stranger and drill them for an hour.

But it seems if I know who they are and what they’ve done before I call, I’m immediately scared to death. I don’t want to sound stupid, silly, obvious or ask a question whose answer I should already know.

This week I conquered that fear. I had to make a couple of phone calls to women who have made great strides in the purebred dairy industry. They’ve accomplished what very few women have done, and what many men strive to do. They have managed purebred Holstein herds, merchandised their genetics, developed world renowned cow families and have names that are easily recognized within the dairy industry.

When I called them, they were too busy to talk at the moment, so my intimidation meter went off the charts. I started assuming they didn’t recognize my name and had no time for me and my interview. But then something miraculous happened: They returned my call!

As I interviewed them, I began to realize my silly, unfair assumptions were dead wrong. As I spoke to each woman I was amazed at how down-to-earth she was. With what they had accomplished, they had every reason to appear lofty and unapproachable, but they weren’t.

What I found out was they were humble about their accomplishments, driven to do better every day, thankful for the opportunities they had been given and amazed that anyone would recognize their skill and count them successful. I have never set eyes on either of these women but I can describe both of them in one word -  beautiful.

I have lessons on a daily basis; whether I learn from them and use them in the future is up to me. This lesson in assumption is a good one. When we allow ourselves to assume too much, we create things that aren’t true. We create attitudes that are a waste of time, we create thought processes that are dangerous and we create lies that have never been told … but we take them as truth.
There, I’ve done my confessing for the week. Confession is good for the soul, but turning and learning is one step better.

Readers with questions or comments for Melissa Hart may write to her in care of this publication.