Who’s the most confident person I know? I’d name them here, but that wouldn’t be nice.
Let me explain.
I looked at this daily writing prompt, and the way it asks about confidence, it gives the impression that more is better.
Confidence is good. I work to build it in students plagued by perfectionism. I muscle it into myself when I try something new or difficult.
And I know people who are self-assured, who have faith in their talents and abilities. They’re the same folks who work to instill confidence in me.
I think the reason they believe so deeply in themselves is because they give themselves the gift of honesty. They know what to be confident about, and they know when that same confidence would equate to lying to themselves.
Folks who never doubt themselves, who are confident without fail…well, they’re the ones that give me pause. I don’t want people in my life to believe blindly in themselves simply because they have the confidence to do so. Give me someone with principles, with faith, with courage, and the gift of self-reflection. That’s the confidence I seek.
Thanks, as always, for the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Story Challenge. Check ’em out!
Soapbox: The Way I see Things 
I love this line: “I think the reason they believe so deeply in themselves is because they give themselves the gift of honesty. They know what to be confident about, and they know when that same confidence would equate to lying to themselves.” You’ve gotten me thinking about confidence differently. Thank you for this perspective!
Thanks, Natasha. It was strange to see this prompt, because I had an immediate resistance to the question and had to figure out why.This post was harder to write than I thought it would be, maybe because I have SO many thoughts about it. It was hard to articulate them in a way that made sense to me, let alone anyone else. I’d glad it resonated.
What a thoughtful post about a quality that I have, in the past, definitely equated with positivity (“Oh, they are confident, that’s so excellent.”) that I now also deem just a small slice of the qualities worth admiring. (I’m thinking of confidence + humility, or confidence + sense of justice?) This line is one I’m thinking more about – so appreciating how you made this personal and meaningful: “I don’t want people in my life to believe blindly in themselves simply because they have the confidence to do so.”
Thanks! I had to stop myself in this post because it could have quickly gone into rant territory. And like you, I always equated confidence with positivity, but I also really like your approach – like, confidence tempered with other qualities.
Kind of like chocolate is nice, but pair it with peanut butter and now you’re talkin’!
Love the balance here between confidence and the ability to see oneself. I think the two correlate well. I generally think of myself as confident but hoo boy do I also have my insecurities and blind spots. Thanks for the provocation and post. 🙂
Thanks, and YES. There are definitely the insecurities and blind spots. I don’t think I’ll ever have an objective view of myself, and I’m more likely to see myself from the negative direction. But as I’ve grown and changed, I do think I’m better at naming and embracing that I happen to know things, and I happen to be good at things, and it’s very much OK that I do…