Cocksure

A couple of weeks ago my husband and I took a ride in a helicopter, over a large mountain range. I had never taken a long ride in a helicopter, so I was admittedly a little bit apprehensive. We got to talking to the pilot before the ride, and I was instantly reassured. I felt very little fear from the beginning of the ride until the end, despite it being a big thrill. In turns out that our pilot had served in the marines, flew planes for firefighters in the west, and he had an entirely “cocksure” attitude. Typically, I don’t care for this kind of arrogant cadence in people, but there are certain professions where it is absolutely what you want to encounter, such as from your doctor/surgeon, your lawyer, your financial accountant, and absolutely any kind of driver or pilot who is in charge of getting you safely to and from your destination. And reflecting back, this pilot was extremely likable. He was definitely more confident than truly arrogant.

Confidence is not something that is easy to fake. And some people are so stupidly, unwarrantly confident/arrogant, and that attitude stands out like a sore thumb, and makes anyone around these people feel less confident in them than ever.

Arrogant people need to feel “better than”, in order to feel good about themselves. Other people are desperately needed for arrogant people to feel good about themselves, as either adoring audiences or as people to compare themselves to, whom they consider to be “lower standard” than themselves. The feeling of superiority is an aching need for arrogant people. Ironically, most arrogant people are extremely insecure. Confident people get all of their self-assurance from their own inner knowing, their faith in life and/or in their Higher Power, and in their own individual purposes and gifts. Other people really don’t figure into the equation of how confident people feel about themselves. Confident people assume that everyone has the ability to be confident in their own lives and in their own purposes and talents, and they wish the best for us all. Confident people feel assured that any of us have the ability to live life to the absolute fullest. And thus confident people inspire us, and they lead the way without even realizing that they are doing it.

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Here is the question of the day from 3000 Questions About Me:

488. Fill in the blank: Working _______ hours a week is too much for me.

F.E.A.R.

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

This quote is a good one to remember during Halloween’s “scary season.” I always tell my kids to always ask for what they want, go after what they want, look for every possibility to get what they want, because what is the worst place that anyone will end up in, if you don’t get what you want? You’ll be in the same place and position, where you are sitting at right now. You really have nothing to lose. Face everything and rise.

A Dear Abby column written decades ago has always stuck with me. A writer asked Abby about his situation where he was in his thirties and he realized that he wanted to switch careers. He realized that he wanted to become a doctor, but looking at everything that this would entail, it would probably take ten years, and he probably wouldn’t even start practicing medicine until he was 45. She asked him a simple question, “How old will you be in ten years if you don’t go to medical school?” This point was made real for me when I belonged to a book club many years ago. The woman who started the book club said that her father was a doctor when they were small children, and then one day, he sat his family down, and he said that their lifestyle might change for a bit, because he had decided to follow his biggest dream to become an airline pilot. Her father retired as a very content and happy airline pilot, who also had a medical degree.

Face your fears. Face your dreams. Face your callings. Don’t run. Rise. The choice is ripe for the taking. The choice is yours.