Learning Confidence

Confidence: a feeling or consciousness of one's powers or of reliance on one's circumstances confidence in her ability to succeed>

This is the definition as found in Merriam-Webster dictionary.

I was a teenager that lacked confidence. I thought that I could do nothing right and that no one would ever like me. I didn't think I had any power or the ability to rely on my circumstances. I really didn't think I could succeed.

I had always loved going to Girl Scout summer camp. I loved being outside, learning new things, and getting away from the chaos of the "real world."

I learned life skills there. I learned how to rely on my strength to hike up and down hills to get to where I wanted to go. I learned how to be strategic as I navigated rivers, canoeing during a drought or flood. I learned how to overcome my fears as I did the trust fall into my friends' arms, and climbed down the side of a cliff as I found out how much I loved to rappel. I learned how to teach others the things that I knew.

I had mentors along the way, they believed in me, they entrusted me with responsibility and they knew I could do the things I most afraid of.

These are all the lessons that I learned at camp, and I carry them with me today. I have been blessed to know them, and to have some of them still in my life.