"I believe"

It was observed recently about me that I am very optimistic. While that is not always the case it is in a general way more true than untrue. The things in life that come my way are more often seen as opportunities than challenges. I love to grow and learn, hate to change, love to seek for knowledge I do not yet have.

Not all that infrequently I express my optimism in an assertive way. That brought about a need to look inside and see where the roots of that lie. What sprang to mind is that there are two places that can drive assertive optimism: presumption or confidence.

Well imagine how I reeled at the negative connotations of presumption. Presumption of me speaks to self entitlement, the feeling that something is due the one who presumes. The classic foregone conclusion. Such an easy place to go when you have a strong personality such as mine. (no laughing out there I'm trying to be self aware) Presumption, for me, carries that magical thinking we all had as infants that just because someone desires something it of course will happen as they envision the outcome. The power of the assertion stems more purely from a sense of self alone. (yeah I hate that kind of thinking)

So how then is confidence any different? Confidence is an assertion that one can control the pathway to a desired outcome through effort, vigilance and a willingness to bend to the pathway in order to get there. Confidence says; ' I can get there' or 'I want that bad enough to make it happen' Confidence states the outcome not as a certainty but an affirmation of internal drive. It is not magical. It inhabits an understanding that expected outcomes take effort to achieve. confidence then is assertive optimism has faith in ability to manage an outcome.

Presumptive is greedy. Confident expects it to come the old fashioned way, 'you earn it.' Presumption is selfish. Confidence is faith.