Self-confidence is one of the most important things you can develop for yourself. It can mean the difference between being treated with injustice and cruelty, and being treated with respect and dignity. After all, would you rather have to endure ridicule as you stand idly by, or be able to run someone over with your car without even caring? It's a simple choice.
Confidence is something everyone strives for but few ever achieve. The world is constantly telling us we're not good enough. Be it in the form of someone getting dumped by a significant other over the phone, to a baby getting dumped by its mother into the garbage. The point is, getting dumped is never easy and can cause lasting confidence issues.
There are so many things in this life trying to tear us down, leaving us struggling to lift ourselves back up. It's time to break the cycle. That's why, whenever someone tries to bring me down with some generic insult, I fight back with a little maturity and thoughtfulness. If, for instance, a co-worker gets some bad news and tries to take it out on me, there's no need to get upset. I simply take a deep breath, put a tender hand on their shoulder, and explain that I know what they're doing, but it still doesn't change the fact that their mother is dead. Using this technique, I can train them to associate giving insults with a dead mother. This will generally create a much warmer atmosphere.
Of course, not all situations can be solved with the gracefulness that playing the dead mother card offers. Every now and then someone comes along who can't take a hint. Whether it be a self-centered friend, a thoughtless sibling, or a clueless baby. They seem to be intent on destroying my self-esteem. I have found that if I simply ignore my friends little jabs, laugh off my siblings taunts, and stop feeding my baby, the problems will almost always go away.
Then there are the circumstances where nothing seems to work to curb someone's attitude problem. No matter what you do, the person just won't back down. This happens most often when I'm dealing with some unruly pedestrian that I just hit with my car. I mean, I don't know about you, but if I just got hit by a car I wouldn't be insulting the other persons ability to drive. It's like, fine, I wasn't at the top of my game while behind the wheel just then, but what about you...you can't even walk anymore. Some people need to stop and think about their own short-comings before bringing up everyone elses.
Life is a hostile place. It can ruin your confidence if not kept in check. But if composure and maturity are maintained in the face of other people's selfish attacks it could truly make the world a better place. Just think about that the next time I accidentally plow my car through your front door or mistake your chihuahua for a kick-ball.
