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<strong>Siouxland</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> | | Grow/35 / 39<br />
Feelin’ Strong<br />
By Peggy Smith<br />
“Feeling strong is more important than being strong.<br />
Because you may be the strongest in the room:<br />
But if you are not feeling strong, Then you are gone.”<br />
– Mohit Aggarwal<br />
There have been a lot of situations I have<br />
encountered in my life that I look back on<br />
now and realize that I had the ability to make<br />
a difference, but I didn’t. Times that I could have<br />
been successful, but I didn’t think I had the ability, so<br />
I gave up too soon and failed. Things I could have<br />
accomplished, but I doubted myself, so I didn’t try. I<br />
can be my own worst enemy, and I bet that could be<br />
true of you too, at least some of the time.<br />
Why do we shoot ourselves in the foot? Why do we<br />
sabotage our own success? We often blame our<br />
weakness and our lack of confidence in ourselves on<br />
others. “My parents never encouraged me, and they<br />
made me feel like a failure.” “My classmates called me<br />
names and made me feel stupid.” I remember a hard<br />
lesson I learned a long time ago that made me step<br />
back and re-evaluate. I was grousing about what a mess<br />
my life was in, but how it certainly wasn’t my fault. It<br />
was because of the way “they” made me feel. I couldn’t<br />
possibly fix my problems because “they” made me<br />
feel worthless, helpless, inadequate and incapable of<br />
change. My friend pointed out the fact that my feelings<br />
are my feelings – only I can control them, no one else<br />
can. And if I choose to take those feelings on, they will<br />
become true. I will become worthless, helpless, and<br />
inadequate. Or I can take control and write my own<br />
story.<br />
What a lesson! He was right – the way we feel about<br />
ourselves makes all the difference and becomes our<br />
truth. The little engine that could, could - because<br />
he knew how to think - “I think I can, I think I can”.<br />
Confidence and trust in ourselves exude strength, and<br />
we gain it by learning to understand – and appreciateourselves.<br />
The old adage, “Fake it till you make it”<br />
reminds us that if we act confident and strong, people<br />
will look at us differently and treat us differently and<br />
that will cause us to be more confident and stronger.<br />
We will become what we try to be.<br />
Another great quote I love is by Brigham Young: “Why<br />
should we worry about what others think of us; do we<br />
have more confidence in their opinions than we do<br />
our own?”<br />
Strength comes from within – from our own decision<br />
to BE strong. Own your feelings, write your own<br />
story, and do not let others determine what you can<br />
accomplish. Be strong!<br />
Leadership <strong>Siouxland</strong> is an organization dedicated<br />
to developing diverse, informed leaders who shape<br />
our community for today and tomorrow.<br />
Photo Credit Peggy Smith.
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