During my years teaching communication courses at East Carolina University and College of Charleston, I got to hear many incredible true-life stories through students' presentations. Stories that stick out in my mind include a young man's sharing his experience of being falsely diagnosed with a fatal illness, another who failed repeatedly to try out for the baseball team before getting into a game he enjoys much more —golf, and so on. So many unforgettable stories; so much wisdom.
But one story really stands out in my mind to illustrate our incredible power. Here's what happened to this young girl, Suzy.
One Christmas Suzy had her heart set on getting a new Barbie. But not just any Barbie, it was one where she could cut her hair. At least the doll came with scissors. It was the last gift that little seven-year-old Suzy opened, and she felt pure delight. Barbie's hair went from hip length, to waist length, to long layers to irregular, to shoulder length, to pixie(小精灵) short… finally ending with a total buzz cut(圆寸).
Everything's ready and the logical thing to do next was of course for Suzy to cut her own hair. She cut layers and more layers and couldn't wait to show her parents and class.
Little Suzy had a hard time understanding why her mother wanted to take her to a beauty salon to "fix" her hair style. But Suzy firmly believed everyone at school would be so envious of her design concept and skill. Her friends would turn green with envy. Absolutely, her complete and unquestioned confidence in her appearance caused other people to see her beauty.
That story was told 12 years after the fact and Suzy still has pictures of that haircut. She would never cut her hair again, but she cherishes that memory of boundless self-value.
Confidence is like a muscle that you exercise. You decide to be more confident, to choose the positive performance, to take care of yourself, and the feeling of confidence comes to you after that. We all have had that level of confidence at times, but where is it when you need it?
