Confidence Is Love
One day last month, while scanning the news before leaving the office, a human interest headline grabbed my attention: 28 Powerful Women on How to Be Confident
As often happens when I’m reading, images of my two daughters flood my mind. This was one of those times. I clicked the link in hopes it would be something I might pass along to my girls. They are both professional young adults, but we never stop being parents, do we? (pictured left to right: Jordan and Ryan Jackson)
As it turned out, the missives from these remarkable women consumed me. I could not stop reading. It was refreshing to see how some of our brightest luminaries personally define confidence. I also could not help but contrast their words with other prominent figures in today’s culture, where so many over-caffeinated personalities masquerade as the personification of courage.
The 28 perspectives are all worth reading and sharing. This is one of my favorites:
"Sometimes I give myself a break. So I will retreat a moment from the fray, just to breathe. Because what I've learned is that my immediate reaction cannot be the deciding reaction. So sometimes I just sort of step back a second, and while I'm stepping back, I talk. I reach out to my friends, my mom, my girlfriends; I vent, I release, I have sounding boards, I get pep talks from colleagues and staff, and then I go back in. … We each have to find our own coping mechanisms – and this isn't just in terms of the hesitation of finding our voice, but in how we deal with our own stress. It's almost like sports. You have to learn how to play through a loss, play through pain, play through an embarrassing decision on the field. Maybe you get a time-out, you go on the sidelines, but you're going to get back in." -- Michelle Obama
We never stop learning and becoming
Born and raised in the South in the 1960s, I had many challenges and also many role models, some with direct impact on my life and others from afar.
A half century later, as a parent, I hold the highest hopes of encouraging my daughters to find the unique individuals they are meant to become, to go after their dreams with passion, to confidently rise above setbacks – and as the first lady poignantly said, “…get back in.”
Humility and caring are also life lessons I have strived to instill, along with how to be lovers of life and most of all to love themselves – the source of real confidence. My children grew up with many role models as well, who continue to influence their lives today from near and far.
I was just as eager to share this article with them as I am with you. In truth, none of us know when we will find ourselves in the foothills of a mountain we must climb, when we need a shot of confidence. We can find it in the words and examples of others. I hope you will find inspiration, too, and share this with those you know and love.
As human interest articles go, this one is positively more than, which happens to be our brand promise at Perfect Image.
Confidence is love. Enjoy.
