Building Confidence

What is confidence? Although my favorite dictionary may define it as “a positive feeling appreciation of one’s own abilities” and we all agree on it, there cannot be one single definition to describe this state of mind. Confidence means different things to different people.

What does confidence means to Abhinav Bindra? This smart looking young lad had been flashing the riffle of fame, success and laurels to country and its youth, by winning the gold medal in the Beijing Olympics. The guy broke the record of winning the individual gold in the Olympics and thus made India proud on the global stand. Though we won only lone gold medal in the Olympics but this medal has bore the seed of inspiration in the coming genX of the country and this has also proved to the world that yes we do have the potential to produce such Herculean and this will be witnessed in the coming Olympics.

Rather than give you theories and cold definitions of that ten letter word called confidence, allow me to walk you through the career of another iconic Indian, SRK, yes the super rocking Khan, Shah Rukh Khan.

This Delhi born actor first appeared on the public radar with his performances in the television programmes, Fauji and Circus. SRK then made switch to the big screen with Deewana. It was not the macho looks or the typical Bollywood pancake that took Khan to dizzying heights. It was what the critics called the X- factor. They could not define it, but the man had “something that worked, something that connected” and I am sure this success story will be continued in the coming years also.

May be it is the sheer versatility of the man and his confidence to handle a wide range of characters that have provided the cutting edge. From a star-crossed lover to a scheming, murderous anti-hero; from a legendry king to a NASA scientist; from reincarnation story to the story of a common man- it has been an unreal journey for this student of St. Columbus School, Delhi. Here is someone who inspires the confidence of the world’s largest film industry because they know the shortcut to box office success is to have those three magical letters on Friday first day first show: SRK.

What does confidence means to the person called Barrack Hussein Obama, yes the first Black president of the world power nation, the United States of America. Barrack Obama has achieved that feat which Martin Luther (Jr.) always dreamt for.

Stepping into history, Barrack Hussein Obama grasped the reins of power as the first black president of America. Two years after beginning his improbable quest as a little-known, first-term Illinois senator with a foreign-sounding name, Obama moved into the Oval Office as the nation’s fourth youngest president, at 47, and the first African-American, a barrier-breaking achievement believed impossible by generations of minorities.

And I must tell you that Obama has not been given the diamond crown in this economic crisis, but the crown of that thorns in which 11 million Americans are out of work and trillions of dollars lost in the stock market’s tumble, Obama emphasized that his biggest challenge is to repair the tattered economy.

And now let me leave you with one last thought. Can anyone be 100% confident? Here’s the classic cricketing story which provides the answer.

In his last international innings, Sir Donald Bradman needed four runs to be able to retire with the batting average of 100. He was dismissed for a duck by spin bowler Eric Hollies. So, Bradman’s batting average form 52 tests was 99.94. He still remains the cricketing world’s greatest legend ever. As he would have been with that “perfect” average of 100.

So friends just have confidence in yourselves, there may be obstacles in your path but not in your destination and that’s for sure. Believe in yourself, be natural…be you. Just think you can do it, and I knew you all can do it!!

We are either the masters or the victims of confidence; it is a matter of personal choice- confidence or over confidence-blessing or curse…

So just go on and build up your confidence…

Your positive confidence…