“Close your eyes and imagine the best version of you possible. That’s who you really are, let go of any part of you that doesn’t believe it!” ~ C. Assaad
For most of my adult life, I have waffled back and forth with something that seems so simple, yet is so grand in its all-encompassing power…the idea of believing in myself! Beginning in my early thirties, I was told I appeared confident. This definitely felt like a contradiction because inside there often seemed to be a struggle between my ‘self’ who believed she could do anything, be anyone, and accomplish anything she set her mind to, and the ‘self’ who wanted to keep her small, insignificant and safe…at all cost; confined to a box that felt like she was living behind bars and just watching her life go by.
It used to be the latter ‘self’ that would win the race most of the time. With the passing of years, experiencing life and integrating wisdom and this journey of continual growth and evolution, I now realize (thank goodness) that this latter ‘self’, is winning the battle a lot less frequently!
It’s only taken me most of my life to figure this out, however I now see that lack of belief in myself, which leads to lack of confidence, is the killer of dreams and the vampire of souls. With confidence, I can take on the world! Without it I live stuck in a holding pattern. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not this person who is huddled in a corner biting my nails to the quick just trying to get through a day (although I have been there before…and it’s a place I never want to visit again!).
I am this gentle and down-to-earth soul who always had big dreams of leaving my thumbprint on the world, and to do this, I had to constantly put myself ‘out there’.
Years ago I made a promise that I would keep putting myself ‘out there’; pushing myself to grow my confidence and as a by-product, amp up my ability to believe ME. How did I do this? I did it by consciously choosing to do things that scare the crap out of me! Saying ‘YES’ to things that I could have easily said ‘no’ to, but instead said ‘yes’ knowing that the end result would take me further along the path of integrating belief in myself and of course wearing self-confidence like a well-made suit. And…as the quote says, I am willing to ‘let go’ of any part of me that is not willing to play along.
What about you? Are you willing to let this part of you go…the part of you who keeps you small and anything but confident? What have you done today or this week to grow your confidence muscle?
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