Believe In Yourself

Yesterday's post centered on turning negatives into positives. One way to be able to do so is to believe in yourself. It's obvious that the kitten above has great plans for her life. She's going to be Somebody. She believes it!

If we grow up with parents who encourage us to try new things and to challenge ourselves, we'll have an easier time of achieving that attitude. If we had parents who consistently told us we couldn't achieve this or that, we might start believing that we didn't have the ability and stop trying. What a shame that would be.

Parenting books urge moms and dads to instill an attitude of I can do this! in their children. We should tell our daughters they could be president of a big company someday, or even president of the USA. We should let our children know that anything is possible if they work hard and have a passion for whatever field they choose to work in. Once again, the positives outweigh the negatives. 

My dad was definitely a male chauvinist and he readily admitted it. Nothing would convince hm that a woman could work in a man's world and achieve big things. As a teen, I once thought I'd like to work in the advertising world. Dad burst that bubble in a hurry. "That's way too competitive for women," he told me. I didn't agree but I knew better than to argue with him. I never did work in advertising but I pursued the one thing I was truly passionate about--writing. 

I knew that I had the basic tools to be a writer. I loved my English classes in school, from the early grades on through college. I had good grades in that subject and encouraging comments on the papers I wrote for those classes. That helped me believe that I could be a writer. I knew that it was a tough field to work in. More writers hope to be published than the number that actually achieve that goal. I never worked as a writer on a career path; instead, my writing is as a hobbyist, but serious, writer.

Even so, I did believe in myself as I worked my way along the writing path. Every rejection felt like I'd fallen down and couldn't get up. But I did make it to my feet and moved on. Part of what helped me move on was that self-confidence I had. There are lot of falls along the way to be a successful writer but you can overcome them. Bumps and bruises perhaps but also experience. 

We learn from our experiences and we also boost our self-confidence if we concentrate on the positives of those situations. When I joined my first online writing group, I knew I might not be as professional as some of the other members, but I told myself I would learn from them and reach a new level in my writing. That is exactly what happened. That group gave me the self-confidence to submit more and more of my work for publication. I still got plenty of rejections but I also received numerous acceptances and placed in many contests. Small contests, to be sure, but I tried bigger and better ones as I moved along my writing journey. 

If you believe in yourself, your writing will probably show it. If you believe in yourself, you'll make it in the writing world eventually. You'll achieve those small goals along the way and maybe you'll hit the big ones someday, as well. If you believe in yourself, others will, too.