“To be left alone on the tightrope of youthful unknowing is to experience the excruciating beauty of full freedom and the threat of eternal indecision.” ~Maya Angelou
The confidence I feel today is wrapped in a shell of maturity. Bold and certain.
Gone is the innocence, so achingly luminescent, fading what once lit the way.
As we grow, wisdom combined with age gains us confidence. Knowing who we are, what matters, where we find our passion and with whom gains us insight.
Time gives us perspective and an universal acceptance. It is hard earned and hard won.Because ….. we understand the work it took to get where we stand today. And we know just how fragile it is.
We recognize that our confidence can be underscored by fear and inaction; superstition and pessimism.
Because we are knowledgeable. We have lived and learned.
But oh how I miss the confidence of youth.
The swagger of ignorance, the assertion of ego and the possession of self. Life feels so fresh and dewy. We didn’t know what we didn’t know and that in itself was glorious.
While we may not have worn the mask of confidence at all times, when we did, it felt raw and real, explosive and fearless.
I look upon the faces of my children and feel nostalgia. Egotism intertwined with a carefree optimism graces their beautiful faces. I glimpse a self assuredness that, when it comes, shines naturally.
I want them to hold onto that confidence. I want them to capture those moments and hold on tight. Life with all its disappointments and trials will certainly seep in with deep gravity and change the way they view themselves.
And with it will come the truth. That youth is but a skin that must be shed. A magical, golden age that often gives way to a more cynical world.
“When I have ceased to break my wings Against the faultiness of things, And learned that compromises wait Behind each hardly opened gate, When I can look Life in the eyes, Grown calm and very coldly wise, Life will have given me the Truth, And taken in exchange — my youth.” ~ Sara Teasdale