“BELIEVE IN YOURSELF! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy. But with sound self-confidence you can succeed. A sense of inferiority and inadequacy interferes with the attainment of your hopes, but self-confidence leads to self-realization and successful achievement.” ― Norman Vincent Peale, The Power of Positive Thinking

So often in life, when we are facing a problem which we don’t know how to solve, we allow the problem to overwhelm us. And we end up feeling stuck.

“My spouse and I are fighting. I feel so stuck in this marriage.”

“I can’t pay my bills this month. I am stuck in debt.”

“My boss doesn’t appreciate me. I feel stuck in this job.”

And this feeling of being stuck paralyzes us. And then we feel even more stuck!  When we feel stuck, we feel incompetent to solve our problems. So in order to attack whatever problem you may be facing, you need to regain your confidence.  The best way to do that is to do what you know.  We become confident by doing what we are good at.

What do you know how to do? What are you good at?  You don’t need to do anything fancy to regain that feeling of confidence.  If you feel stuck with a problem, and you are good at organizing closets, then take an hour and organize your pantry.  If you happen to be a topnotch baker, bake a pie.  Do something well and get that lovely feeling of accomplishment for a job well done.  Remind yourself that you are capable!

For instance, when I was getting divorced, I felt incredibly overwhelmed at times. So, I threw myself into the two things that I knew how to do: Work and be a mom.  I gave those two jobs my full attention.  And with every success at work and every positive moment with my daughter, I felt more confident.

Sometimes, if I am having a frustrating day, I’ll do something small to bring my confidence back. I might send a card to someone, just to remind myself that I am capable of brightening someone’s day.  Or, I might tackle a home project, so I can enjoy the fruits of my labor when I am done.  Generally, a small confidence boosting activity is enough to get myself mentally back on track.

If you are overwhelmed by a problem this week, for the time being, just do what you know. Do something that you are good at to remind yourself of how competent you really are.  And know that with God, you are well able to handle any challenge that life presents to you.

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