ANN ANONYMOUS / Teen Columnist
When you demonstrate your highest level of self-confidence, you allow doors to open, you embrace opportunities you might otherwise not identify or perhaps even deliberately allow to pass by; opportunities that when you live with a shortage of self-certainty would remain sealed.
The facets of your life that are affected by your degree of confidence hold a great deal of authority over your life. For those of you who have the ability to open yourself up to the world, you have an valuable quality that will forward both your personal and professional life. On the other hand, for those of you, like me who are sometimes incapable of independent pursuits, and are somewhat reserved in front of others, you have an unfortunate, and maybe even detrimental attitude toward personal achievement. I know that even though my behavior can only harm me, I experience great difficulties when challenged with the need to shake the reticence that grips hold of me when in public. I also know if I had a higher level of self-confidence, I may be able to rid myself of that, or at the very least, struggle less.
I think confidence is closely linked to self-esteem. I also think it plays a larger role in shaping an identity. Your sense of self-worth is incredibly important to realizing who you are. To develop confidence, you have to have an amount of trust in yourself, and faith in your abilities. I don’t honestly believe that you can have a truly confident core belief structure without being extremely grounded in character. To become grounded, and independent, and overall confident, however is somewhat of a mystery and I suspect is vastly different for everyone. Much of which I also suspect is dependent on your upbringing, culture and socio-economic status among other things.
How do you suddenly turn off the switch that regulates you in your state of shyness or general being? I don’t think anyone can answer that except the person who is trying to change. Everyone is different; whether they purposely place themselves in an uncomfortable situation and force the break, or they slowly integrate themselves through time. Me? I tend to want to believe my behavior will just ebb and eventually evaporate as I am committed to growth development and change. I also have the ability to be gentle with myself and forgive myself when I don’t meet my own expectations. I choose to believe it! Without taking yourself out of your comfort zone though, habits and behaviors will never change.
If you want a more assertive, secure, self-reliant sense of who you are in character; break the habits, those old comfortable habits. Open yourself up to life and all its opportunities.