An Abundance of Confidence

I happen to be a pretty confident person. I tiptoe up to the fine line of cockiness, teeter back and forth a little on the tips of my toes, but I never quite cross it. Of course this is just my opinion. ☺ I think it’s perfectly normal and acceptable to refer to my life, and myself in particular, as fabulous. This blog title didn’t emerge overnight folks, I have spent years using that adjective in reference to myself! I just think it suits me. Hopefully you agree, and if you don’t…well the good thing about people like me is that it’s hard to shake that confidence once it’s been established.

One area I have been working on improving my confidence in, is in track. It’s not that I’m not confident, because I am. But I could be better. People that are successful in this sport realize early on that so much of it has to do with how much you believe in yourself. I train hard and push myself constantly, but over the years I have had my confidence shaken a bit and I know that it’s still one of my weaknesses that I have to work on. I remember back in the day a time when my confidence was in line with my ability; a time when I was unstoppable not only because I was gifted and talented, but because I believed—without a shadow of a doubt—that I simply couldn’t be beaten. It was that simple. Perhaps it wasn’t logical to some or based on any factual evidence, but that didn’t matter. Once I believed it to be true I simply made it happen.

A friend of mine told me a few weeks ago that I needed to have the kind of confidence I do in my social life, transfer over to my athletic life. At first I looked at him a bit puzzled, wondering what exactly he meant by that. He explained that it’s very clear I think highly of myself. You believe you can get any man you want. I laughed and dismissed such an exaggeration. I mean, yes, I like to think I’m a pretty great gal and hopefully a large percentage of the opposite sex would agree, but I’m not over the top about it. Right? Right??! Or am I…

Fast forward to a couple days ago and I’m having a text message convo with my friend. She’s just met the friend of a guy she happens to be into and says they’re all having a great time and that his friend is great. I suggest she introduce him to our other single friend, being that she’s in need of a great guy in her life. (That’s the kind of person I am…always looking out for my friends.) She then texts, “HE’S HOT!!!!!!” In capitals…with that many exclamation points. This must mean that his attractiveness level is not up for debate; he’s certifiably cute. So, (and I know this might knock my wonderful friend status down a notch) I text back nevermind, introduce him to me instead! Her response: I don’t know, I think he’s into tall model types with blond hair. My eyebrows immediately shot up. I am already aware by a previous description that this guy isn’t my normal type, but being that he got a whole line of exclamation points I’m betting that he’s worth stepping outside of the box. And because I have decided this, it never crossed my mind to consider what his “type” might be. And so that’s what I told her. I didn’t ask what his type was. And she laughed. Because after 15 years of friendship, she knows me. She knows that once I have decided someone is worth taking a longer look at, I automatically assume that the interest will be reciprocated. Don’t get me wrong, I know that it can’t possibly always be the case, but the point is that I always assume it will be.

So as you can see, when it comes to social situations, my confidence is sky high and basically unshakeable. Not to say that there haven’t been attempts to knock it down a notch, but for the most part they have been unsuccessful. Even if this guy decided he really isn’t into normal sized, dark-skinned, buff chicks, I’ll still think that given some time I’d be able to change his mind… or maybe he’s just a few cards short of a full deck. ☺ And if I ever learn to transfer that confidence back over to the playing field, I have a feeling it’s going to take me to a whole other level.