We humans are an odd lot. What passes for "news" these days feels not so much like news as it does titillation designed to sell advertising. Think of the last newspaper front page you read. How much was truly positive news?

I began to wonder about how news was affecting my life. What affect are the images of war, violence, and poverty having on my perspective and my attitude? Are times, for example, really "tough?" I don't think so. Yet the media tell us otherwise.

What we have is a case of national depression. We've brought it on ourselves by repeatedly talking about how tough the times are. "The economy is wrecking my business," a friend of mine said. People seem to be focusing on what they don't have in their lives, rather than what they want to have.

It's rubbish thinking, that's what it is. If you choose to think like that, then don't complain when your thinking becomes reality. We do, in fact, become what we think about.

Being depressed and feeling low is the easiest thing people do. It takes creativity, imagination, and effort to focus on what you WANT and what you HAVE rather than on what you don't want or don't have. If you want something different for your life, you must develop a forward-facing attitude.

Choosing a forward-facing attitude means deciding to practice what's known as self-confidence.

-- The Practice of Self-Confidence

Yes, self-confidence is a practice. You're not born with it, and you can't store it up. It's learned behavior, and it's a life choice. You cannot go a single day without practicing it if you want to have the life you deserve.

My Miriam-Webster dictionary defines confidence as "faith or belief that one will act in a right, proper, or effective way." In fact, the entry goes on at length about the word to make the following distinction:

Confidence stresses faith in oneself and one's power without any suggestion of conceit or arrogance.

Let's think about that big word, Faith. Self-confidence requires us to have faith in ourselves. It demands that we trust ourselves to respond appropriately. Out of curiosity, I looked up the word "faith;" it's first synonym is "loyalty."

Look up the word "faithless" and you'll see that the first synonym Miriam-Webster lists is "treachery."

So, when I do not practice self-confidence, I am performing an act of treachery against myself!

Consider the number of things that have happened to you over your lifetime. In each and every crisis, you have responded in such a way that you can read these words now. The fact is that you can trust yourself, and it's your responsibility to do so if you want to have a truly wonderful life.

Think about that this week. What will you choose?

-- An Exercise

Upon awakening each morning, and before you get out of bed, make a mental list of the things for which you are grateful. Afterwards, repeat the following phrase three times: "I choose the path of self-confidence today."

Then go forth, and act with faith in your ability to respond in the right way to whatever life brings you!