People are Timid and Apologetic… -Daily Meditation 10.12.23
Today’s quotation:
People are timid and apologetic; they are no longer upright; they dare not say “I think” “I am” but quote some saint or sage. They are ashamed before the blade of grass, or the blowing rose. These roses under my window make no reference to former roses or to better ones; they are for what they are; they exist with God today. -Ralph Waldo Emerson
Today’s Meditation:
It amazes me and frustrates me to no end to hear so many people talk themselves down, to hear them say that they’re incapable of doing things that I know very well they can not only do but do well. This is especially frustrating to a teacher who’s trying to help young people uncover their talents and abilities, to help them become really good at something that will be of great benefit to them in their lives, be it writing, math, communication, music, or so many other things that people tend to be good at.
How often do you hear someone say something like “It’s not as good as hers” when they’ve made something, or “I’m not very good at this” before they even start doing something? We apologize for almost everything, rather than just doing it, and that’s a shame. Our apologies don’t help; they expose our insecurities and fears. When I hear people say things like that, I want to say, “Don’t apologize– there’s no reason for it,” but I usually just let it slide because such a statement would have little real effect in most cases.
It would be nice if we didn’t feel a need to apologize. It would be nice to do what we do with the confidence that the best we can do will be okay or even better than okay. It would be nice to say what we want without apologizing, even if our view contradicts someone else’s. When our inhibitions and fears hinder our self-expression, everyone loses.
This isn’t to say that anyone can say anything they want at anytime. Nor does it mean that we should feel free to be mean to others whenever we feel like it, do shoddy work, or damage something of someone else’s without apologizing. But in our ordinary, everyday lives, confidence is a part of ourselves that can go a long way towards helping us to achieve those things we hope to achieve and to move forward and upward in our lives.
You are what you are, and you are deserving of your confidence. Of course, a large part of confidence has to do with expertise–I couldn’t confidently explain how a bridge is built, but I could explain how languages work with quite a lot of confidence. One of the most important elements of our confidence is to develop our expertise–and that’s completely up to us as individuals.
Questions to consider:
Why do there seem to be so few people with true confidence in themselves and in the things they do?
What would it take for you to have complete confidence in yourself all the time?
How might you develop the confidence to help you move onward and upward?
For further thought:
Confidence is that feeling by which the mind embarks on great and honorable courses with sure hope and trust in itself.-Cicero
If you missed our last Daily Meditation, it is here.
