Lilypie

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Over And Under Confident

I always wonder about the meaning of confidence. The dictionary states the various meanings of the word. Confidence can be self, in others, in things, or even as a secret. Self-confidence is believing in oneself. Confidence in others is believing in others. Confidence in things is believing that all will turn out well. And taking into confidence means sharing the secret with another person whom you trust will not blab.

But what I am confused about is self-confidence. It is all well having confidence in others, but what about oneself? When is it being confidence, and when is it being downright haughty? Afterall, too much self-confidence can make a person arrogant and narcissistic, thinking that he / she is too good for anyone or anything.

People always tell me I should have more confidence in myself. Is there a difference being of no self-confidence, or knowing your limits? After all, if you really have no ability to do a certain thing, is it considered as having no confidence when you say you are not able to do it?

If you know you are not good enough, is it being of no confidence if you are stating the truth? But when is it considered as "not good enough" anyway? Can a person be "not good enough" before he / she even tries out anything, instead of knowing one's limits and not waste time trying?

Then when is it over-confident? Will over-confidence be a person's downfall? There have been people I know who never study for their examinations, yet can pass with flying colours. While poor chaps like me struggle to do a final revision, they were the ones gloating and boasting about how easy the subject was. And when they scored better than those who studied so much, sometimes all you feel like is giving them a kick.

I guess the hardest will be to balance the two. How to swing from being too overly confident to being not confident? Which one is the middle line? The grey area, instead of everything in black and white? This is something which I have been trying to figure out all my life.

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