I Am

I am the sun the moon and the stars,

I am Mercury, Venus and Mars.

I am the flowers with perfume so sweet,

I am the grass that grows under your feet.

I am your thoughts and your feelings too,

I am your friends, your family and you.

I am the good that life brings,

I am all of these wonderful things.

I know your triumphs, your failures and pains,

I know your losses, your winnings and gains.

I know your courage, your joys and your fears

I know the sound of your laughter and taste of your tears.

I hide nothing from you that you choose to see,

I know there is nothing you can hide from Me.

I dwell in the life within and the life without,

I sing in the whisper and never the shout.

I love you not because of what I see,

I love you dear one because you are Me.

I have loved you from the beginning time,

I will love you forever because you are Mine.

Harvey A. Green

Self-confidence

Self-confidence is not simply a belief in one’s abilities but a confidence in one’s self. Talents, acquired and inherent are limited making them a poor standard for self-confidence. More likely, self-confidence facilitates learning rather than the reverse. Certainly, those of us at any age with any degree of acumen can be confident so we are compelled to search for a broader basis to support our belief in our self.

It may be helpful to look first outside of our self to better understand what is inside. If we can accept God is present in all things, and include our self in this assumption, then we are left with the inevitable conclusion that God, all that is, is within each of us. Certainly an omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent God is worthy of our confidence, so we may then question of how much or how well we are able to express such divinity. Another way of phrasing this can be, though we are imperfect, perfection lies within each of us waiting to be awakened by our desire. Real self-confidence is a reliance on our ability to awaken that within us to rise to the level of meeting our daily needs.

Some of us may question whether we have enough of God, or enough of perfection, within us to meet our needs. The answer is simply that God is infinite and quantity is not a relevant means of measure. Perfection is absolute and does not come in any quantity. So if there is any limitation it could be in in our motivation or our application. The pattern for application is self-existent within perfection and if we are patient, if are sufficiently dedicated, we will eventually develop the means to apply what we need in the world around us. What we cannot find in perfection, what must come from us exclusively is the motivation. We will awaken within each of us that which we are motivated to do, and it will rise only to the level commensurate to our commitment. Then in patience, in persistence we will develop the means of expression… and this is the basis for self-confidence.

If we are working on developing self-confidence it would be helpful to begin with our motivation. Do we wish to express the divine, is it so important to us that we are willing to patiently and persistently work at it. For how well we express perfection is more a matter of commitment than skill. To a dedicated soul, the skills will eventually be acquired but the motivation; the stimulus that makes it possible must come from deep within each of us. Motivation will give rise to confidence and confidence to excellence. In the end it is not what we have acquired that should give us self-confidence but that which is available to us.

May God bless you and help you to awaken within you that infinite tender loving kindness around which you have built your individuality.