By Morgan Miles –
Going from fear and anxiety to confidence, Ashley Tankard found herself in that spot where she knew the enemy can’t win. That’s why she wrote a book called Fear Didn’t Win.
“Seven years old was basically the first time I remember dealing with fear and recognizing that there was something wrong with me,” Ashley explains.
Ashley also had a long time dream of being on American Idol. She first auditioned at 15 years old for the producers. After the first rejection she continued to audition for the next seven years. Finally, she auditioned in Season 21 at age 22, singing “You Broke Me First,” by Tate McRae. The judges were Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie and Katy Perry. Luke voted “No” while Lionel and Katy voted “Yes.”
That audition experience was not easy. Ashley felt she was on the verge of a panic attack. Her hands were tingly, her chest was tight and her knees were weak. It could have gone very bad. But she recited Philippians 4:13 to herself: “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”
Ashley was diagnosed with anxiety at age 17. She started going to school in 2nd grade and tried to make friends, but it became a tough challenge onward until age 18. A friend came to her to help overcome fear by encouraging her to go to a church service. She was given prayer. The next day, she felt much different, it felt like fear had left her body.
She then started to write her own book Fear Didn’t Win and had been working on it for almost 10 years. God told her to motivate herself to finish it before Jan. 1, 2026. She knew this was God’s message and snapped into it.
“I want (readers) to feel seen in a way because when I was dealing with fear and anxiety, I kind of felt ostracized. I felt like I was the only person in the world dealing with it,” said Ashley. “And I kind of just felt like I just felt different. And what I want people to feel when they read this book if they’re dealing with fear is that they are not alone.”
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