“You’re So Brave!”
…Says my former student as we march to the front section of the prayer hall, half way through ceremonies.
Just picture it - it’s bad enough having to walk through the outer hallway which is lined with people who don’t want to enter the internal prayer space once the ceremonies have started. But then, once you get inside and sit your late butt down at the back corner where you start to relax and think the worst is over - a volunteer line marshall comes to you and says “Um, I need you guys to go sit up there - we need to keep this back space open.”
Great. You know where “up there” is? All the way at the front front of the prayer hall - meaning you gotta parade past the entire congregation to get to the glaringly empty spot made just for tardy fools like you. It’s awesome because now that everyone sees you, afterwards they can all come up to you and ask why you can’t make it to prayers on time.
Anyway, so I sit down and I see my former student sitting next to me. I give an excited smile, turn back to myself and try to focus. And then, two seconds later, “the prod.”
I turn to my former student and say, “Ready?” And then I get up, throw my shoulders back, and walk to my seat like I’m walking down Euston Road on any normal day. I’m not hunched over, I’m not scurrying like a rat (despite the last post…), I’m walking like a normal human being, one foot in front of the other at a slightly more accelerated pace. It is what it is, you know?
And that’s when my student turned to me and said, “Wow you’re so brave!”
No babycakes, I just am what I am - confident and unapologetic.
And see - that’s the thing. You gotta be confident about it. I think we’ve all heard the general rule that confidence is sexy but man, it’s moments like the one today that make me realize how important confidence is. It’s better than makeup, corsets, and high heels when you’re trying to pass for something you’re not. It’s the best trick out there and it works every time, whatever form it comes in - whether it’s throwing your shoulders back and walking with your head up or simply just admitting that you’re wrong and taking it like a (wo)man.
Of course I didn’t want to take the walk of lame in front of my peers and some really eligible guys, but if I’m going to then I at least gotta look like I got this, right?
I felt that last night too when I was practicing for my spoken word gig: there were times when I’d start the piece and realize that I didn’t want to finish it because I didn’t start out right. But what if that happened during the actual performance? Would I fumble about and apologize and get all red and embarrassed? Or do I just forge ahead and make the second half so spectacular that nobody’d remember the trip up in the first place?
Exactly. 1.) You always have options. 2.) Don’t apologize unless you’re wrong or you hurt someone. 3.) Walk with your head at a normal level and pay attention to your posture. You deserve to be here just like everyone else. 4.) Humility appears in how you speak to and treat others, not in how successful you are a making yourself disappear. That’s Houdini, not Humility.
And most importantly…
5.) Confidence is everything.
Thanks for the reminder, Student.
