Confidence

There is a look in someone's eye when they are felling confident. It seems to radiate loud and clear... "I AM CONFIDENT! I FEEL GOOD ABOUT WHO I AM!"
Everyone wants to have this feeling, although it is my believe that very few actually achieve it.

Last month we had school pictures taken here at Ready, Set, GROW and they were delivered tonight. All of my students looked great and happy. The pictures were outstanding. It was when I looked at my own children's pictures that I first noticed "that" look. There in their eyes was the confidence. They both looked so mature, so proud. They both looked like leaders...strong and sure. I don't recall ever feeling that way...ever seeing myself in that light, but here it was in my children. A sense of pride overwhelmed me and I realized that in those innocent faces lies the future. If all children could feel loved and nurtured, maybe there would finally be some peace in this world.

A friend of mine once gave me a book entitled, The Optimistic Child. In it the readers find a plethora of ideas to help a child grow to be confident and optimistic. One of the greatest lines in the book reads, "Masterful action by the parents is the crucible in which childhood optimism is forged." How a child is taught from the moment of birth...what the child sees and hears shape his very existence. In those pictures I saw the faces of optimism....of confidence. As a mother there is no greater desire than to see one's children bloom into strong adults ready to tackle any obstacle. Tonight I saw into the future and I was proud of what I saw.