How much is it for an ounce of Self-Confidence?

Self-confidence is a very personal thing. There is not a single store that sells it, and there is no way you can buy it off another person the way you do a car on Facebook.

It doesn’t have any definite shape or form; yet, it manifests itself through people of all shapes and forms, almost like an aura. You know it when you feel it.

For every person we know of who seems to have it in spades, there is always another starving every day for a boost of self-confidence.

What the heck is it really?

We all hear about how important it is to have self-confidence. Chances are most of us associate confidence, to a greater or lesser degree, with a worldly sense of security. Be it a well-paid job, a big tittle, a nice car, a large house, validation from our circle of friends, you name it.

But what happens if all of a sudden everything is taken away from us?

Within a span of less than a year, Covid-19 have swept across the globe and put millions of lives and livelihoods at risk. Recession looms large. Businesses go under in droves. Many lost their jobs, many their loved ones and for a great many others, life has just come crashing down.

Where is my self-confidence?

Being stood down for a few weeks, I count myself among the luckier lot compared to so many people out there. However, there were times when I struggled to shake off this mixture of insecurity, anger and worthlessness: Insecure about the future, angry about why this happened to me and worthless because this is where I ended up, for all the efforts I had put in to pursue a better life.

On a brighter note, being stuck at home for a while freed up the time for me to mull over life. Leaving aside the down moments, I realized life’s most important asset is our inner self-confidence- the belief in ourselves and our ability to overcome hardship and obstacles. It is only when life seems to have taken away everything that we value, when we are metaphorically stripped naked that we realize what is left: the innate resilience within each of us with which we can rebuild everything again from scratch. It is the glowing hope that keeps the embers smoldering after a heavy rain.

It is right here, as always.

Losing your job hurts. Losing someone hurts. Losing things that have been so interwoven with your own identity hurts. But the most tragic thing that can happen to a person is when he loses his sense of self-confidence, when he believes he can never recover from this episode to keep on moving towards a better future.

After all, pains serve as essential smacks in the head that remind us of what truly matter: Family, friendship, love, a sense of purpose and a belief in oneself.

“Self-confidence is self-determinism. One’s belief in one’s ability to determine his own course. As long as he has that, he has the universe in his pocket.”

“There is only one security and when you’ve lost that security, you’ve lost everything you got. And that is the security of confidence in yourself- to be, to create, to make any position you want to make for yourself.”

-L Ron Hubbard-

In that sense, self-confidence is priceless, even for an ounce.