How to restore lost Confidence

Welcome my friend, come on in & we’ll enjoy a cuppa together as we discuss why so many have noticed a loss in confidence in recent years.

But first we’ll grab our cuppa’s, a treat & get comfy. I’m enjoying a Vanilla Chai tea with a slice of home baked gf Ginger & Coconut Loaf.

It’s getting a little chilly in our corner of the world as Autumn speeds towards our Winter here on the East Coast of Australia.

So today we’ll sit in my dining room out of the cold wind, overlooking our Pergola area with our beautiful Bromeliads in crimson flower, the Crepe Myrtle in flushes of pink blooms & the Spanish Moss swaying in the breeze.

Now we’re sipping our cuppa’s let’s begin…

What is Confidence?

To know whether our confidence is waning or not, we need to know what confidence is, Dictionaries defines it as the following;

Confidence is the feeling or belief that one can have faith

in or rely on

someone or something.

So armed with this definition let’s take a look at the different types of confidences we can experience;

We can have confidence in our nation’s government & justice system to right wrongs.

We can have confidence in those we love, that they will be there for us when needed.

We can have confidence & faith in our nation’s health system, to give us the best health care possible when in need.

We also may have confidence & faith in our ability to navigate through life, with our learnt skills & life experience.

Sadly, in recent years many have  lost confidence in some or even all of the above.

Why?

We’ll explore this by focusing on one particular area today…a loss of confidence in our own abilities.

Losing Confidence

There can be many reasons why people lose confidence.

Maybe the system or a person failed them or a loved one in someway. Leading to discouragement & a loss of faith in that person or system.

But losing confidence in oneself takes discouragement to a whole other level entirely.

Most of us have some level of confidence in our own abilities ~ as we all have skill sets, whether we have been trained into them, studied for them or earnt them in the hard lessons of life.

We also have life skills that we have often gleaned from the adults in our lives while growing up & mature these as we traverse through our own adult experience.

We often feel a certain confidence in our ability to navigate life through these skills…don’t we? But what happens when we can’t do certain things anymore?

What happens when our physical or mental health takes a turn, that irreversibly interrupts our life & our ability to do certain things?

The loss can be devastating.

Modifying behaviour

A loss in confidence can happen at any age or stage in life, I was only in my forties when autoimmune conditions hit & hit hard!

Literally turning my world upside down!

But being an eternal optimist I decided to just get on with it as best as I could, which meant that I had to find other ways of doing the things I had always done.

Last week I shared how I have modified the way I keep in contact with friends & family now that language & communication are problematic for me over the phone.

However, a few years ago I noticed my fine motor skills waning, this greatly concerned me as I love fine crafting & this was inhibiting those activities.

Thus, I was referred to an Occupational Therapist who asked a lot of questions & noted that in many areas, I had already modified the way I do daily tasks to compensate for the loss of certain skills. Which I had actually been unaware of until she pointed them out!

Her advice has been immeasurable;

‘keep on trying to do the fine motor skills that are becoming more difficult but don’t over tax yourself & you’ll see progress little by little, step by step, bit by bit’.

And she was right! The skills I thought I had lost just needed a little retraining, exercise & patience to get back to some semblance of normality & yes with a little modification here & there.

I have also noticed this with my husband who is a man of many skills, younger & stronger than I.

He can do so many amazing things but sadly he suffers from a form of Arthritis which is interrupting his ability to do certain fine motor skills now.

I’ve observed him modifying the ways he does things to compensate for this loss.

Our confidence may wane but our faith can grow stronger

So where does faith come into all of this?

As mentioned above our confidence & faith in others, systems or our own abilities can wane or even fail us with changing circumstances.

The best way to have unwavering faith & confidence is to look to the One who never changes.

Hebrews 13:8 tells us;

‘Jesus Christ is eternally changeless, always the same yesterday, today and forever.’

How comforting is that, to know we have a Saviour who’s love & support for us never changes or wanes, no matter what circumstances come our way!

And as we look to Him our faith will grow little by little, step by step & bit by bit!

Thus we can have confidence in His promises;

‘…He has said (Jesus),

“I WILL NEVER, under any circumstances, DESERT YOU

nor give you up nor leave you without support,

nor will I in any degree leave you helpless,

NOR WILL I FORSAKE or LET YOU DOWN

or RELAX MY HOLD ON YOU

Assuredly not!”

Hebrews 13: 5 AMP

What a promise! One that I can attest to from experience through all the good & hard times in my life He has never left me.

What about you my friend, do you need your faith & confidence restored?

Then why don’t you join me in Prayer. 

Until next time,

Jennifer

You’re also most welcome to join me in The Reading Nook

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© 2023 Jennifer M. Ross, teawithjennifer.blog All Rights Reserved. Photo by Pixabay & also  Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.co 

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