Confidence. Our mothers and the gurus tell us that we need to have
confidence to succeed in love. “Be confident,” they say, “and love is
yours.” Sounds great, but the problem is we don’t understand what that
really means. Confidence can be so esoteric when we are not there yet
and sometimes when we do think we have it, we are actually wearing it as
a thin mask over insecurity. For instance, a mask of confidence can
look like, “I know it all,” or boastful self promotion that is a turn
off. On the other hand a false modest confidence can look like someone
is placid or shy and you have to work too hard or give too many props to
bring them out to engage.
So let’s break it down. The root of confidence is the word confide.
Confide means to have full trust. Neither the mask of confidence nor
false modest confidence exhibits or inspires trust from another.
True confidence can sometimes appear innate, even in a small child.
You know the one, the child that trusts themselves, their lovability and
feels completely comfortable claiming their space in the room. And we
eagerly open our arms for a hug from this bright being. If that child is
supported in this natural state and not taught to doubt themselves
their confidence will grow effortlessly. But for most of us that full
trust of ourselves has to be cultivated in order to ripen.
The ripening of confidence—is our own self love, it is learning to
trust ourselves, being able to rely on our own inner voice to guide us
and know and use our abilities. It is also our belief in our power to
attract the goodness of life and real love in. We can acquire this
confidence in hard ways through life and love’s obstacles that bring out
character we never knew in ourselves. We can also learn it consciously
going about it like acquiring any skill such as brushing our teeth,
exercising, meditating, or our vocation. We invest our attention and
supportive practices that bring out confidence in order to reap its
harvest.
When you are in the company of someone who confides, trusts, believes
in themselves you relax. You feel at home, you feel received, you feel
loved. If someone doesn’t trust, confide or believe in themselves, you
feel unsettled and unsure of whether they even like you.
Your confidence is an invitation for another to truly see you, to open up to you. It is your beautiful invitation of real love.
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