This is Digby Pancake. Do you have confidence? Confidence like Peanut Butter Brickle? Nope. No one does.
But most of us doubt ourselves every day. We doubt we can do what we need to do. We doubt we are good enough. We doubt we are worthy of love. All of that stuff. Maybe you can add to that list.
But you know, since we have been relaxing and not traveling much the past week, my doubt started to creep in. Then the rain started and didn’t stop for three days. I doubted that I still had adventure in me. I doubted that I could do a hike up to a waterfall. Even though I didn’t want to doubt myself, I sure didn’t feel confidence.
But as Girl Person always does, when she gets an idea in her mind, she won’t let it go. She told Brickle and I it would be a fun afternoon. She told us that the hike was less than two miles. And we have surely done more miles than that. So we agreed. Especially after she said we would get a snack when we got home, and perhaps even a little extra dinner.
We drove to the hiking place and I saw the sign. I saw the trail. It didn’t look too hard. At first.
But as we continued, the climb was steeper. Harder. The climb had lots of rocks. That doubt started to trickle in my mind. I really wasn’t sure seeing a waterfall was worth all of this work.
And as Brickle saw my struggle, he slowed down. He wanted to give up. He kept going. But he really didn’t think we would make it all of the way. So my trickle of doubt was now a waterfall. Even though we hadn’t reached it yet, my confidence was all wet.
Girl Person started to give us a talk of sorts. She told us we were strong. She told us we were healthy. She told us that we deserved it to ourselves to push on. She told us that if we gave up, we would always remember that. She said that it would be easier the next time we were on a hard trail to give up. And we couldn’t start doing that.
So she told us we could rest a bit. We got a drink. We had some treats. And we kept on. Soon, we could hear the waterfall in the distance. And to our surprise…it was barely a trickle.
Yes, yes. I doubted that all of our hard work was worth it. And Brickle did too. But Girl Person’s amazement at this waterfall was no less than if we were at Niagara Falls.
She said we should be proud. She said that just like all waterfalls are different and have their own beauty, so do our struggles. And as we started going back down the hill, we knew what she meant. We saw more beautiful sights along the trail. We appreciated each one, as a reminder that our doubt had been useless.
Doubting ourselves at the beginning had slowed us down. Doubting ourselves made everything harder. Doubting ourselves was unnecessary!
What is that thing you used to do that made you have confidence? Why did you stop? Don’t turn around now. Keep going. Climb! Find that waterfall of success that you truly have!
-Digby Pancake
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