Monday, October 04, 2004

Self Confidence

Overcast, raining, gusty, vile weather - but not yet cold.

Con = With
Fides=Faith/Trust

Have faith/trust in yourself. That's what self-confidence actually means.
So why don't people just say self-trust or self-faith? The word self-confidence is one of those in the English language that is bandied about so loosely, that its meaning has become bastardized to near uselessness. Most people are taught it in the context of a celebrity or a cocky schoolmate. For example, a child might hear Wayne Rooney described as self-confident. So a child thinks that when they need to be self-confident, they need to be like Wayne Rooney. They emulate him in a superficial manner, and think that emulation gives them self-confidence.

And what happens when the Upper Year school drug dealer is the model of Self-Confidence?

Without the teachings from a Church or a surrounding strong social community, how will anybody learn the right kind of Self-Trust? Through trial and error? Through the luck of being born with all the right things ( money, good family, superlative genes, good looks, healthy, fit athletic body, intelligence)? How can an asthmatic, for example, be expected to teach themselves self-confidence, when they know that every so often their body fails them perilously?

Self-faith in the face of challenge and self-encouragement when faced by failure are fundamental essentials to survival. Those who cannot foster it in others, must be shamming their own self-confidence.



3 comments:

Aiden Truss said...

My old school motto was 'Fides et fidelitas' (Faith and faithfulness, for the non latin speakers).

It's the only thing about my catholic school that I respected and admired - regardless of my agnosticism, I still thought it was a laudible sentiment.

Seemed to sum up the way I'd like to feel about myself and my friends...

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loveandtheplanet said...

Curiously enough, now that you mention it, I also went to a Catholic Primary School, and Fides was the first half of its motto.

Faith used to be an intrinsic member of the emotional armament: but then has lost recognition due to its associations with religion. This is ridiculous, since faith is still necessary and is capable of existing in a secular fashion.