Practicing Confidence in Success

Umbrella Girl...a pastel in progress.

Confidence. It's not that some of us are lacking it while others have lots of it. We all have confidence in something. It's just that some of us have confidence in failing rather than in succeeding--in losing rather than in wining, in dying rather than living.

I like the synonyms Rodale's gives for confidence: full trust, reliance, dependence, faith, trustworthiness, assured expectation, conviction, sureness, resoluteness, sheet anchor, heart, fearlessness, backbone, tenacity, spunk, self-assurance...etc.

Confidence is an innate quality expressed by all of us. It has nothing to do with whether or not we are good enough or are deserving of being confident. However, we do get to choose what we put our confidence in.

Are we convinced of abundant goodness and supply, unstoppable inspiration and fulfilling creativity? Or, do we have expectations of lack of time and money, creative blocks and poor paintings?

There's a Bible story where these guys are fishing off the coast all night and catch nothing. Jesus stops by and suggests that they cast their net on the right side of the boat. Suddenly the net is so full that the fishermen can barely pull it in. So what changed? It was the same boat with the same fishermen in the same spot with the same net. Even the same fish in the ocean. Maybe their new friend showed them how to transform their confidence in lack, to confidence in plenty? or how to uplift their dependence on limited skills, to faith in a higher expression of talents?

So, if you're an artist who doesn't always have confidence in your talent, time and resources...ask yourself where you've been placing your confidence. You might even try painting on the right side of the boat!