Ego, Confidence & Trust

Ego is a person's sense of self-esteem or self-importance. Confidence is the feeling or belief that one can have faith in, or rely on, someone or something, including oneself. To be egotistical is to be excessively conceited or absorbed in oneself; self-centred - "he's selfish, egotistical, and arrogant". Trust is reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something. Basically, trust depends on feelings. It is the belief that we have in someone or something.

All three are interrelated. There is a difficult balance to be achieved if we are to be good human beings. We should not subsume our belief in ourselves to the beliefs of others who may be more dominant. We should have the confidence in our own beliefs to stand up for them, but we have a responsibility to fact check those beliefs.

 

I can remember being bullied in school. I was born in 1945 to a German mother & English father. My christian name is unusual even in Germany. It's meaning is either "beloved of the woods" or "strong". I was tall for a girl, I needed glasses in Primary school, I was clever & worked hard, I played the piano & I had auburn hair. All characteristics which made me different. All led to teasing & bullying. It wasn't easy being me.

But, looking back, I don't remember many specific instances. I've probably blocked most of it out. I don't actually remember much of my childhood. The important thing is that I think it did make me live up to my name. I am mentally strong. I do have confidence in myself. I do trust my instincts. I hope I'm not egotistical though. 

                                                                                

 

No one goes through life without having to deal with s... of some form or other. Some people do seem to have charmed lives. Look on social media & you might believe that many people have everything their hearts desire. I'm very sceptical that is true. I think most people have to deal with varying degrees of hardship & difficulty.

Some have to cope with really dire situations. Look at the headlines in the media today & you will see just how true that is, all over the world. Those people have to trust that others will help them, that they can rely on people. That their governments will do everything necessary to save lives & solve the problems. They have to have confidence that they will survive the trauma. 

We are defined by what we do & don't do. We all have an inner voice. That voice should help us behave well instinctively. Not everyone is trustworthy, but I want to believe that most people are essentially good.