Know they are linked. Confidence and inspiration. Know that inspiration will drive your ideas, and know that confidence will give you the ability to live them out. Know that you need both to succeed.

Confidence is… Trusting yourself. Dressing the part. Knowing that the word “no” doesn’t mean you can’t do it. It simply means you can’t do it with them.

I was sitting on my kitchen counter one night reading an Instyle magazine waiting for dinner to cook. As I flipped through the pages, I tore an ad from the magazine that displayed a pair of shoes. It wasn’t the shoes that caught my eye. It was more the words. Confidence is… Trusting yourself. Dressing the part. Knowing that the word “no” doesn’t mean you can’t do it. It simply means you can’t do it with them. For whatever reason that particular day I ripped the ad from the magazine and hung it on my fridge. I hardly ever do that. The ad still hangs on my refrigerator door today. It is one of the few items up there.

Words show up at the right time in your life, and they follow you in ways that are unexplainable. They stay persistent until you notice them. Certain words continually appear in every conversation. Or any magazine article that you read. Or in your writing. Especially when you seem to be writing the same few words over and over and over. Confident. Confidence. Be Confident.

I pulled onto the interstate Friday morning with country music leaking from the speakers in my car. I opted for more music than talk radio that morning. Music inspires me. That is one of the many lessons I have learned in my twenties. All the driving I did. Back and forth on the road. Listening to as many  songs as I could to slowly pass the time. Thoughts and words and ideas would just hit me those days. Driving alone is where I did my best thinking. Quiet yet the subtle background of a few country songs. And the thoughts… I couldn’t stop them. I couldn’t ignore them. And for those minutes everything felt clear. As I have grown, my schedule has changed and staying inspired is a topic that is constantly on my mind.  I pray I never lose that aspect of myself.

Prayer has something to do with it too. Prayer and music. Those are my driving forces for inspiration most days. When I woke up Saturday morning, I prayed. I woke up and leaned over to my nightstand, and I grabbed my devotional and prayed. Words of thankfulness were the first thoughts from my mouth that morning. Thank you God for these days in my life. Thank you God for my health. And thank you God especially for yesterday and for showing me life and for inspiring me to continue to believe in You. Be with me today, and show me where to place my time. Let this day be one that honors You. 

I prayed. I cooked breakfast. And I wrote. I actually wrote this post in a roundabout way. I wrote about thankfulness and confidence and scribbled questions that have been replaying on my mind for the last few weeks hoping that answers would magically appear on the pages of my notebook. The answers never did, but I know at some point they will. Maybe not in notebook format, but in some way they will.

Know they are linked. Confidence and inspiration. Know that inspiration will drive your ideas, and  know that confidence will give you the ability to live them out. Know that you need both to succeed. Know what inspires you in life and do more of those actions every day. They will keep you happy. And know that not all of your ideas will be easy to pursue. Know that even if those are ideas take awhile to execute, know that you must continue to try every day to bring them to life. That is your job in all of this. That is what you are meant to do.