#379: Is Your Confidence Eroding?

I let the dogs out in the back yard a short while ago then took out cold water to fill their outdoor water bowl. As I poured the water from the bottle, a few drops jumped out and landed on the rock the bowl sat on. I began to wonder how many drops of water it would take, and over how long a period of time, to erode a hole into that rock. I admit, the brain never seems to stop thinking such weird thoughts.

But then I remembered the Grand Canyon that supposedly was carved out of the mountain by a river.

THAT thought led me to wonder about our confidence and how easily it is eroded over time from careless, insensitive remarks from other people about our weight and how our confidence is built on sand, like the parable of the two houses in the Bible . One was built on sand and didn't last while the house built on rock stood steadfast.

Wouldn't it be nice to have such a solid confidence that did not wear away from the drops of others' sarcasm and put downs and our embarrassment at ourselves?

Sadly, though, when our self-confidence lags, so many things are perceived as failures. Overeat one day? Failure. Don't exercise? Failure. The scale doesn't go down? Failure. We continually let these thoughts derail us from a confident outlook that says, "OK, I overate today, but tomorrow is a new day." Or, "Yes, I missed exercising today but boy will I have a good workout tomorrow." Or, "So the scale didn't go down. My clothes fit looser."

That is the attitude we should adopt -- that setbacks are temporary and can be readily overcome with a new beginning. Failure should not be an option we consider and failure, if we define a setback that way, should be looked on as a temporary detour, not a final destination.

So, the next time you begin to put yourself down because of someone's comment or because you over-ate and under-exercised, remind yourself of the dog's water bowl and do not allow those drops of negativity erode your self-confidence and your belief in yourself that you are already a winner simply because you are trying to improve.