New Ways To Go

Wow!  Jessica Watson is bound for Tasmania. In case you don’t know who she is, Jessica is a sixteen-year-old Australian girl, sailing around the world — solo and unassisted!  

And yet another sixteen-year-old is doing the same thing.  She’s Abby Sunderland from California.  Upon completion of her sail, she’ll hold the world record as the youngest to complete this feat.  

What strikes me the most is the tremendous trust both girls possess.  They believe in themselves and their abilities.  They trust their instincts and intuition.  They’ve learned to depend on themselves.  Think of the possibilities that will open up to each of them as a result of this experience.   Truly they have set their own course.

So many of us lack belief in ourselves.  We look to others for acknowledgement of our skills and gifts.  We let others do the navigating for us.  We become fearful and doubting when we should be trusting our heart, our gut and our own intuition. 

Both of the sailors I’ve mentioned also have a great support system – a family who supports them and obviously believes in their ability and sound judgment.   These families understand that their daughters have inner resources to draw upon. 

Who knows us better than we know ourselves?  Who truly walks in our shoes?  And how can we buy into who we are?

To live for yourself, you have to know yourself.  Understanding what truths and lasting values are part of your makeup and learning how they can affect your choices and decisions in life will be useful in helping you to be true to yourself and increasing your self-esteem.

Since we all pay attention to our self-talk, why not make it positive?  It takes conscious effort but it’s possible to replace the “I can’t, I’m not good at” and “I never” statements with positive ones.  In order to say “I can,” you may have to learn something, practice something or simply enjoy the attempt at something, but you can do it.  If we want to live our own lives, one of the hurdles we must get over is the fear of looking foolish and making mistakes.  If we don’t, we limit our possibilities and sometimes, having a very good time in the process.

Write positive affirmations (or create visual models) and post them where you will see them:  on your mirror, beside your computer and on your refrigerator.  Listen carefully.  Ever hear yourself making excuses or justifying why you can’t do something?  It’s time we got out of  own way and were honest with ourselves. 

We all learn from others.  So why not learn from the people we admire and stand in awe of.   Wouldn’t you like to be part of a conversation with Abby and Jessica?  Not many of us will have that opportunity, but I read that Jessica will be writing a book about her experience.  Get inspired and read, read, read.   There are so many people, living and dead, from whom we can gain valuable nuggets on how to live for ourselves and our passions.

Practice makes perfect.   You’ve heard that statement before.  But did you know that a great way to build confidence is through volunteerism?   With a little practice, you can acquire leadership skills, improve your communication skills or develop competence in problem-solving.  Another benefit is that volunteerism may also lead to developing a sense of purpose.

The idea is that we always want to be building our sense of self-worth and faith in our unique qualities and trust in ourselves so that our lives and our passions are what we make of them not what we let someone else make of them for us.   

My hat’s off to Abby and Jessica and good wishes to them both in their respective journeys.  What an inspiring duo!

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