Skipping the tryout feels safe because nobody sees you miss. You still missed; you just did it privately.

Avoiding an attempt does not avoid the outcome, it only moves it somewhere unobserved. The result is the same absence, and the relief comes entirely from the fact that nobody watched it happen. What you protect is the audience’s view rather than yourself, and you still carry the knowledge of it.

Notice where you are choosing privacy over possibility. Enter one thing where you might visibly not make it, and let the miss be public and finished rather than quiet and ongoing.