why confidence matters.

When you meet someone for the first time, what are the things you can't help but notice right away? Their smile? Their outfit? Their speech pattern? Their strut?

Whether this person is a potential employee, a promising love interest, a friend-of-a-friend, or anyone in between, you can tell nearly instantly what type of confidence they are radiating. Are they bubbly, smiling, and maintaining eye contact with you? Or are they staring at their feet, slumped over, and barely able to maintain conversation for 30 seconds? And what immense weight that initial meeting carries on your impression of that new person!

Having confidence is about believing in yourself and your worth. Being comfortable in your skin; whether you feel like you could afford to loose a few pounds, wish you had a whiter smile, or are a little insecure about your height. What you may see as flaws, others may see as beautiful. And what others see as flaws, you may see as beautiful. Embracing yourself for who you are can be one of the hardest challenges you'll ever face. Some of us spend our entire lives wishing we were something or someone different. Meanwhile, others come to terms with every single part of themselves, and appreciate flaws and perfections for what they are. In your lifetime, you will come across people who are confident despite the fact that societal norms say they are overweight, could use a nose job, or are handicapped. Confidence is often about defying society's standard for beauty; whether internal or external.

Just a quick search online will tell a story far deeper than you could possibly imagine. Statistics about what America's ideals of weight, height, and skin tone are. Ideals about eye color, facial features, sexual orientation, creed, and personality traits. What happens when we take a look at the real picture? If we were to take the population and pull the people out that fit the mold for "beauty," we'd see why so many men and women these days struggle with issues of self-confidence and self-esteem. Of course, some say society as a whole has come a long way in accepting and altering their idea of beauty. And that may be true. I think it's safe to say we still have a long way to go; but it has to begin somewhere. And that somewhere is within each of us. Next time you walk into a room, stand up straight and smile. Wear something that makes you feel good. Talk about your passions. Set goals and strive to reach them. Believe in yourself and your worth. Stand for something. Create a positive environment for the people around you. Defy others standards and write your own. The ways of changing your life for the better are endless, and it all comes back to one thing; you. Be confident in yourself and good things will come your way.

songs to live by.

Let Your Troubles Roll By- Carbon Leaf.

keeping the faith.

Faith may signify a relationship with a higher power, a particular religion, a spiritual following, or none of the above. Faith is a personal belief; it's having confidence and trust in something. And that something can be anything you chose.

Regardless of our individual beliefs, faith is what allows us to keep moving forward during times of uncertainty, confusion, and pain. We must confidentally believe that everything will work out. We must truly internalize that everything happens for a reason. We must trust deep down that timing is everything. 

Faith has this incredible way of changing our perspective. Rather than approaching a painful situation as simply life's way of wreaking havoc on us, we can use it as a reminder to appreciate how blessed we are when the going is good. We can see a challenge as a means of making us stronger people. And hardships as the best teachers of life; allowing us to move forward with the courage to take on whatever comes next.

Often times it isn't until the going gets tough that we recognize the importance of faith. Yet faith shouldn't just be something to carry us through the life's lows. Faith is about embracing whatever life throws in our path, whether good or bad. Being thankful for the little things. Testing our personal limits when we're faced with a terrifying obstacle. Believing that with a whole lot of perseverance, we can push through anything. We can experience and embrace joy. We can transform any situation into something worth believing in. We earn our happiness through sacrifice and hard work. We, as absurd as it may sound, earn life's challenges so that we don't become complacent. Give up the illusion that you will ever have a problem-free life. Rather than being disappointed by that reality, look at it as our one-way ticket to something better in the future. Because for every challenge we overcome, our faith will grow. We have the opportunity to believe in ourselves and in life, simply by internalizing faith. We can make peace with every one of our experiences. It's our faith that will allow us to look to the future with nothing but positive thoughts and big dreams. Dreams that will be reached by having faith.

the ones that matter.

We all know how quickly 86,400 seconds can pass by. That's the number of seconds it takes to fill a single day. 24 hours. Most of the time, our repetitive routines, overflowing schedules, and countless commitments keep us preoccupied from that simple fact. Our lives are full of times of immense joy, and moments of overwhelming struggle. But time beats forward, not stopping for anyone or anything.

Sometimes we have an experience, big or small, where we suddenly begin see things so clearly. What we realize was probably there the whole time, but we just were too busy to recognize it until that particular moment. It's like suddenly our personal "tunnel vision" starts to subside, and a new perspective takes flight. That tunnel vision is often a direct result of the profound bustle of our daily lives where we are busy just trying to get by. We rarely can find even a moment in the day to stop and reflect on life lately.

Times, they are a{lways} changing. During times of significant change in our lives, it's easy to find yourself full of several emotions all at once; joy, relief, sadness, fear. Change is often associated with the word bittersweet. It's leaving something behind so that something new can take flight. And it is during those moments of uncertainty; those moments where we stand face-to-face with the unknown, that we search for something familiar to hold onto. More often than not, we can find the greatest comfort during those times through other people.

Our friends, family, and significant others. Our children, mentors, and even our pets. The ones we trust the most. The ones that take care of us when we're unwell. The ones that support us through the highs and lows. The ones that race to our sides when we need help. The ones that laugh and smile with us during times of joy. The ones that give the biggest hugs and always seem to know the right thing to say. The ones that provide us with that last bit of strength to overcome any obstacle. We see them regularly, and talk to them often. They're the first people we call to share exciting news. The people we confide our deepest secrets in.

Those are the ones that matter the most.

I recently stumbled upon a greeting card that hit me like a ton of bricks. It was one of those moments where my tunnel vision ceased and suddenly it all became very clear.

The card message read:

And with that, I think we can all think of someone that's overdue for a thank you.