The courage to try
I’ve never been a confident person. I have always been acutely aware of all the things I did not know, or I was ignorant of, and I still am.
On the contrary, people who see me think I am very confident because I am open to trying something new and never lose face even when I fail. The same person, but the self and society, hold two very contradicting opinions. The difference stems from the simple misunderstanding of what confidence truly is.
We often misconstrue confidence to be equated to expertise and courage that comes from knowledge. That confidence is some measured skill that can be acquired as we attain mastery in life. Surely, adults we see who has been doing the same thing for 20 years or 30 years seem confident. As if age or the passing of time alone is enough to acquire this mastery.
But sometimes, confidence is just the courage to try. It is to acknowledge that you are not aware of something. It is to recognize that you might not be very good at it. It is to recognize that there is a possibility that you might fail miserably in your attempt, but still pursuing it with all your heart.
Like Vincent Van Gogh says, “If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.”
More often than not, confidence is just the courage to try the unknown.
To pursue what matters irrespective of the outcome because the journey is more important to you than the result. To know that you will be alright, regardless of where the path leads you.
If you achieve your goal, confidence leads you to success. If you don’t, the confidence to try gave you lessons in survival that could not have been learned any other way.
In what aspect of your life are you practicing the courage to try today?
You could catch this in a video here: https://youtu.be/-fHjF6-EsY4
