There are many sweet moments to parenting and some not-so-sweet moments. But one of the things I am in awe of about my daughter is her self-confidence. At five years-old, there is nothing she can’t do, or so she says to herself. “Mommy, I can help you with that”. “Mommy, I can do this”. “Mommy, I can do that”. She is confident she can do whatever she puts her mind to, because no one has ever told her different.
No one has ever told her different, not even herself.
Because that’s what happens as we get older, right? We are our own worst critic. We tell ourselves that we can’t do something, we tell ourselves that we are incapable of doing something, we tell ourselves that we’ll never be good enough. Why are we so negative to ourselves? Why do we treat ourselves so shabbily, in ways that we would never treat another human being?
Self-confidence is not overrated; it is a necessity.
If you don’t believe in yourself, who will? If you don’t believe you can do it, how can someone else believe you can? If you don’t believe you can be amazing, how can someone else know that amazing person lurking underneath?
If you knew how capable you are, you’d stop worrying and start amazing yourself. -Shannon Kaiser
You, yes you, are an amazing individual. You’ve got it going on and don’t even realize it.
Somehow after childhood ends, and we enter those awkward teenage years, our self-worth begins to take a hit. Maybe somebody made fun of you or you didn’t have the right clothes or you did not have good grades. And then adulthood beams its unrelenting gaze on you, and your self-confidence goes on its epic roller coaster of highs and lows.
However you got here, it is time to get off the worry/self-worth raucous ride, and realize that you are capable of anything that you put your mind to. You have the capacity to be all kinds of awesome. You have the capacity to amaze yourself.
Isn’t that exciting?
You can rewrite this next chapter of your life and start BEING AMAZING.
Lest you think that this girl typing furiously on her keyboard has it all together, know that I don’t. But I desperately want to amaze myself. I know that I am capable of so much more and I know that you are too 🙂
awe that was so beautiful Mackenzie! Sometimes I feel like that confident girl…sometimes it’s a huge work in progress!
Thanks Tonya 🙂 Yup, every day is different, but we can do it! We can be amazing 🙂
We really can learn so much good from our kids. It’d be wonderful if we could learn how to bridge that awkward gap between childhood and adulthood without losing that confidence and joie de vivre!
Yes, I agree! If we could bridge that awkward gap, life would be so much easier 🙂
“You have the capacity to amaze yourself.” Amen, Mackenzie! I don’t know why our self-confidence and feeling of worthiness suffer as we age. I remember being like your daughter – where I believe I could do anything, until I no longer could. My fears and doubts hold me back and it pains me. I don’t want to live a half life where I hide. I want to live authentically, be who I am and live my truths without fear and with respect of others’ truths.
“My fears and doubts hold me back and it pains me”. Amen, sister. Amen. We can do it Tanya!! 🙂
I love this post so much. And I see the same things with my daughter. That’s actually one thing I say about her all the time–I hope she never loses how confident she is because it’s an amazing thing to watch.
As for me, I struggle with self-esteem more than self-confidence.
Yes, I love the self-confidence our daughters have; may they never lose it! 🙂
Self-esteem is a struggle for me as well. I’d think that at this point in my life, this would be something that I didn’t struggle with but I do.
Confidence is definitely not overrated. I think that sometimes, people confuse confidence and arrogance, but they are very different things. Confidence with a humble attitude is the best combination of traits out there. I hope your daughter holds onto that confidence. And I hope you grow in awareness of your own amazing : )
I hope my daughter holds onto that confidence too, Ruth 🙂
Aw, thanks!