It's always surprising to me how a matter of perspective can change even our understood definition of words. Take today's subject: Confidence by the dictionary is defined as having a belief in the powers, trustworthiness, or reliability of a person or thing. I don't think there's very many people who would dispute that, true. However, if I were to ask you to identify an example on sight? I'm sure there would be a variety of answers. Of people or items, perhaps with "Old Faithful" monikers and tales of how they earned the title.
In fact, it can go even further. A person's self-confidence can depend on certain situations. Some may need it for work every day. Other's for a competition or an event. Plus, it could come and fade, depending on the day or situation. And, sometimes, just like any other topic of mine, a different perspective could make all the difference.
I was recently in conversation with some recent friends of mine, and had let slip my old endeavors on Youtube. For me, at the end of that trial period, it had seemed like a losing battle. I had neither the equipment nor the prowess to fulfill what I had hoped to achieve. Not too mention, if I'm being completely honest, my non-scripted motif likely didn't help either. It was one of the reasons I rarely, if ever, asked for likes, comments, or subscriptions; which you see all over the place, even back then. I wasn't confident in my work, and thus, didn't feel like I had anything worth asking people to do those things for.
What surprised me, as I proceeded to begrudgingly link my channel while calling out my subpar content, was that, in their eyes, it wasn't nearly as bad as I felt it was. I had received supporting notions for nearly a decade's old work that I felt like I didn't deserve, back in the day or now.
We can often be our own worst enemy in such things. We objectively point out our mistakes despite them going unnoticed, quite nearly because we know those mistakes, almost as if it taunts us to see where our system struggles to keep up, or that a self-built figure may be attached backwards. Or, we could fool ourselves into believing the opposite, that a gimmick is overshadowing a sound strategy simply because we want it to mean something, whether for ourselves or the ones watching us.
It can be a bit like polarized screens or optical illusions. From one angle, you see an opaque or jumbled image, but then you start to tilt your head, if only to watch how it changes as you do. Sometimes, you see that hidden face. Occasionally, you find just the right spot for a mirrored reflection. The question to ask? How about this: Which viewpoint makes you the most confident in what you see? Are you more certain with the elderly lady or the young woman? The mirror or the black screen?
And further more, do you base the confidence of your answer on yourself, or on another?
Just a Penny's Worth of Thoughts, for those confident in the words.
