Confidence

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’

~ Eleanor Roosevelt

When I was a young lad growing up there were many times I lacked confidence.  Whether it be reading scripture in front of the church before the sermon, or playing my trumpet for the first time.  As the years went by I gained confidence speaking in front of people and playing my trumpet.  What I have found over the years is that when people gain confidence it is oftentimes contagious and many times builds momentum with those around you.

During my adolescence I learned from my pastor how to speak in front of crowds.  Thanks Al Parr.  In college, I sat near a trumpet player (like five trumpets away) who was/is an amazing player.  Because of speaking with my pastor and sitting close to Jeremy, my confidence raised astronomically in my ability to perform both tasks better.  My PK-College friend Missy is still better than me though.

In life, it is easy to feel confident when things are going right and you have done the same thing over and over with success.  What oftentimes is hard is building confidence when tasks seem difficult to accomplish or impossible to attain.

Over the course of my lifetime I have witnessed students experience great success in many endeavors because of their confidence as an individual and as a team member.  When younger students see older students leading by example it usually leads to something better.  When confidence and success go together oftentimes momentum comes and people speak like their pastor and play like the best trumpet player ever (kinda).  Over the course of many years this confidence can be passed down to successive generations of people.  It can, of course, be negative influences as well.

The question I have for all of you is, “where do you want to go, what do you want to accomplish, and how are you going to do it?”  A good place to start is to gain the confidence to put your best foot forward and take a leap of faith.