Milton once claimed "Confidence imparts a wondrous inspiration to its possessor.--It bears him on in security, either to meet no danger, or to find matter of glorious trial." Confidence here I remind you is not to be miss-defined as arrogance. Confidence is indeed something that must be built, and a long term project it is. I do not mean an empty hollow confidence which is merely a facade. I am referring to knowing that you can trust yourself, that in a tight situation you have the ability to overcome it, no matter what it may be.
In my classes which started recently, I was quickly reminded of of how little true confidence there is in these students. They go about perfectly fine in their own small world with their own small friends. I'm talking about high school students who look well enough at a quick glance. Really, they are talking to each other and getting average grades and paying average attention to the teacher, but is that true confidence? I see a lack to critical thinking and logic. They are like walking computers programed with specific responses to specific questions so they can pass the standardized problems in life. Every once in a while I see one of them faced with and problem outside their small comfort zone, and just like a PC (sorry I couldn't resist my inner nerd) they crash. They crash back onto their parents or a teacher to bail them out and solve whatever it was. Now I'm not knocking reasonable help. God knows we need it from time to time and there are several students I've notice with good self-confidence.
I was blessed with parents, and a father specifically who laid the foundations of analytical thinking and troubleshooting in me at a young age. He gave me problems to solve and taught me to think in a very real and applicable way. The experiences that he gave me, the experiences that he allowed me to acquire are an integral part of my self-confidence. Sure I failed, rather often. I made a fool out of my self once or twice, but less of a fool than the kid next to me, who didn't try at all, probably looks today. I am confident that I will fail sometimes. I am confident that even if I fail I will learn from my mistakes. I am confident that the reward is worth the risk.
Dad here's to you. Thanks for all the experiences and pushes you gave me. I can figure out what's wrong with that engine and fix it, just as easily as I can talk to my state representative. I can design a small website, just as easily as I can write poetry. I can learn my way around a sound system from scratch, just as easily as I can cook a sage apple stir-fry from scratch. Because you taught me how to have confidence, I can do all these things and more. You showed me how to learn something I didn't know. Thank you.
