Earlier this year, I performed at a child’s birthday party. When I asked the five year old birthday girl to come up front with me, she had a really sad expression. Usually they are happy to stand next to the the Magician. I asked if she could help me make some magic happen. She then looked up at me with a really concerned look and said “I don’t want to be disappeared.”
How often is it that when we are supposed to be happy and celebrating the moments in life that we focus on our fears in stead? Fear is a natural and healthy means of making us cautious. Even so, how many of our fears are imagined rather than real? If you’re like the majority of us, most of our fears never come to pass. We create our own anxiety when we should be celebrating the good things happening in our lives.
That brings me to a point another youngster highlighted for me at his birthday party. During my “Peanut Butter and Jelly” magic routine my normal lines are “I just can’t get this trick to work. I tried to get it ready for the magic show but it just won’t work for me.” Then one eight-year-old boy shouts out, “Try it again, but this time you’ve gotta really believe in yourself!”
A lesson in
self-confidence
from a child.
Wow….that’s a message for all of us. When we’ve done our part to practice, rehearse, and study, then yes, we certainly need to believe in ourselves. How much more we could accomplish with a proper amount of self-confidence? I don’t mean arrogance, but believing in ourselves enough that with the help of our Creator and a healthy amount of preparation, we can be successful. It’s much easier to be confident when we’ve given our task an honest and full preparation. Cutting corners and looking for short-cuts just undermines our self-belief and leads to diminished performance. So the message is to stop cheating, work hard, and then believe in yourself.
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