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Does confidence equal courage? 
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JOYATLAST
3/23/2011 2:08PM
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I'm so happy you experienced confidence with your meeting!!! You took your place and met with success. Yay! I believe courage is always connected with fear. You take action to deal with that spider because otherwise you fear his presence lurking around in the house with you. You brave girl! Confidence pretty much does away with the fear. You are trusting yourself or someone (God) or something else. My guess is you courageously ate your sandwich because you were confident that eating pizza would have brought harsh judgments down on you. Confidence operates without fear. It chooses to eat pizza or not based on what Teresa decides for herself. Anyway, that's my opinion. I still have a lot to learn! Confidence is taking my life out of the arena of fear. It's a whole other world!!! When fear comes, I am dealing with it. Then courage gets me started in the right direction until confidence takes over. Does that make sense? Can you tell I've given a lot of thought to this? LOL Love ya, Joy Report Inappropriate Comment |
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JUNEBUGG02
3/22/2011 9:22AM
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I think of courage as stepping out of our comfort zones to do the right thing. That comfort zone may be determined by our confidence. So, it may take an act of courage for you to accept a slice of pizza, whereas some folks would not think anything of it. I am praying that God will let you see what He sees when He looks at you - as His precious, dearly loved child!
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WCATAP
3/22/2011 9:01AM
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Oh Teresa I hate to see you thinking about weight and how others perceive you, over relationship and comraderie. Courage is to just put those stinky thoughts behind you and confidence is joining the group with their lunch offerings, rather than excluding yourself. I love how Jesus always got right in there with the group, not tinking of formalities, but of relationships. He showed the love of God by being a part of their world, rather than separate because the "rules" may have dictated that he should worry about how his actions would be perceived. WWJD? Love you!!!
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CHAS1949
3/22/2011 12:04AM
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I hope you see your value to the staff!! They were not thinking of your weight, they were thinking of their own hunger. You could have had a piece, but if that triggers you wanting more, then the peanut butter was the good choice. I hope you start seeing the positive self!! She is strong, kind, and talented. Look at all you did (and still do) for Joe. You, my friend, are a wonderful giving person. Report Inappropriate Comment |
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DEBBIEANNE1124
3/21/2011 10:33PM
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I think it's the same thing. you think a little like me. i hate eating in public places for fear of what others think. Have you read my blogs? I'm 28.6 pound down since Feb 16.that's confidence and courage. Report Inappropriate Comment |
I am on a journey searching for confidence. I am praying about confidence and for confidence. I am reading about confidence and doing mental exercises on the subject.
I have been stuck a bit on exercise one which has you picture a slightly more confident self standing in front of me and i am to step inside that more confident self and observe body posture, etc etc etc.
What has me stuck is i have tried so hard to picture that more confident self just as i am now(overweight) but everytime it is a much thinner and fit me. I know that is not a wrong picture of confidence but I dont want the concept of confidence based on a smaller size because I need to find my confident self now, at this weight.
so i keep working on this allusive confident me at my current size and i know I will get there. I know the hang up mentally has to do with how i have talked to myself internally for all of my adult life. I was one of the people who had the mentality of " I will be _______ once i am thinner." so now I have to undo these tapes.
I need this new found confidence soon as I go to train staff on Joe at his new group home on the 17th and 18th and I am scared to death to do this ONLY because of my size. I hate being the FAT lady walking into a new and unfamiliar environment and it has been causing me tremendous stress thinking about having to do this very soon.
So please, please, please pray hard for this obstacle in my life!
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MAMASHAWN
3/16/2011 11:14AM
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This is my struggle, as well. Especially through this last life-change. I'm praying to see myself in a better light NOT based on my weight. This has been VERY hard to separate my feelings about myself from my feelings about my body. I'm learning that it's hard to hear all of the nice things others are saying about me over my own inner voice, which has been very loud and even abusive at times. I've resisted the concept of how important it is to love yourself (just as it applies to me). But I know that I will struggle with this until I truly learn to see myself with the same unconditional love that God sees me. I know that God would want us to win this battle. I know how I'd feel if one of my children felt this way about themselves. It would break my heart. I'm so glad that we are working on this here. One day, you and I will have that glory moment of saying, "Look what I did!" But, along the way, we each need to find out what there is to love inside of us. And then, we need to feel it. Here's to a great realationship... you with who you are, and me with who I am. And each of us, with our Abba Father. Take care! Shawnee 
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GRIFF2734
3/8/2011 9:02PM
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Hi Teresa I agree with all here and the only thing I can add is the word of the Lord Jeremiah 17:7-8 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. 8 They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” Keep being who you are in the Lord Teresa you are blessed and the Lord has given you a precious gift. Remember you are his child and he loves you very much and so do we. Much love to you dear friend Jesus first
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JUNEBUGG02
3/8/2011 1:27PM
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Your care-taker skills and compassion are your qualifications for your job - your size is unimportant. My mother had some wonderful caretakers who were large ladies, and I still love them dearly for all they did for her. I'm sure your client feels the same way. Your training can be so helpful for your client, and these new care-takers are looking to you for guidance. Even though you may judge yourself by your size, it is unlikely that others do. Just be yourself and don't worry about what anyone else thinks. I really like Joyatlast's quote about how other people's opinions of us is none of our business - what a great perspective.
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JOYATLAST
3/8/2011 8:26AM
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What other people think about us is none of our business. That quote brought such freedom in my life! Your career has nothing to do with how you look physically. They have asked you to come, NOT to decorate the surroundings, but to share your knowledge and expertise. Focus on Joe! What you are doing will influence his life long after you're gone. And for all you know, the people you will be teaching are just like us! Not all that impressed with outward appearance.  Go get em, tiger! 
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WCATAP
3/8/2011 7:52AM
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I will pray girlfriend....But this is not an obstacle this is an opportunity. An opportunity to try out your new found confidence on a temporary group in your life. People are not s focused on weight as we think they are. While we think about our weight they are hearing our words. You are the perfect one to train a group on Joe's needs. Just the fact that they have asked you to do it should bolster your confidence. And mostly how he looks at you, reacts to your presence that's the real testimony. Be confident you have earned this. Studying, praying, and being mindful of your level of confidence has brought you blessings. This is an opportunity to put into practice all you are learning. God has presented you with this opportunity to shine, in an area where He knows you can be successful. He is a loving father. We love you, He loves you now love yourself. Be confident. You can do this.....Jewell Report Inappropriate Comment |
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CHAS1949
3/8/2011 12:20AM
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As so many others have said, you are a special person. You are caring, loving, and very skilled at what you do. I hope you can do some self-talk and tell yourself what a wonderful person you are. Weight is a stumbling block only in that it's hard to get around. You can start to fix that little by little. It has nothing to do with how well you care for others. So, I will be praying that you hold your head high and show Joe's new caretakers the things you know that work with him. You are a valuable part of his team even though you are not assigned to him right now. Your time and experience with him will be enough to help you explain to the new people. Good luck many hugs chas Report Inappropriate Comment |
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PEPPERLEAH
3/7/2011 11:34PM
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Teresa, I am praying for you. You have so many wonderful qualities! You are such a loving and caring person! You have so much to offer those people you will be coming in contact with! Try to remember, above all, that God loves you just as you are. He thinks you are pretty wonderful! And then remind yourself that God doesn't lie; so you might as well accept His thoughts about you! I do understand where you are coming from. I think we all do. I think that everyone struggles with image of self for whatever reason they may have. Too tall, too short, too thin, too heavy, crooked nose, dingy teeth, acne, unruly hair, and on and on and on. Society has taught us that we should fit the mold of some super model, etc. But the truth of the matter is those people we are supposed to fashion ourselves after and strive to be like have problems, too. And if they were to come clean and tell us their REAL feelings, we would find that they have insecurities, etc. just like the rest of us do. I will tell you this. When it comes to friends, and to someone who knows how to reach out and care for others and treat people with love, respect and kindness, they just couldn't find anyone better than you. Hold your head high, and remember that you have the support and encouragement of your MANY Spark Friends! (You have your own fan club!) And, how awesome that you will be able to see Joe again for those 2 days! We don't quit; we take it one day at a time. And, we are moving in the right direction! Those goals are getting closer all the time!  
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FITNESSDIVA23
3/7/2011 11:12PM
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It takes a lot of confidence just to write out a blog post like that! You will get through these obstacles and achieve your goals!
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