You can agree with me or be wrong! A statement of confidence or arrogance?
Let’s venture into the Enchanted Forest and see if we may find some insight.
Deep within the Enchanted Forest, there is a tiny village of lizards. Within this village, there is a particular lizard of fame. His name is Leonard the Leaping Lizard. He acquired this name because of his ability to leap long distances. Most lizards in the village could only leap short distances, and in all actuality, they more or less dropped from one branch to another, but liked to say that they were jumping. Leonard, on the other hand, could leap from one bush to another. Sometimes he would even jump to a branch that was higher than the one he was on just to prove to the others he could. And he made it all look so effortless. He would get into position, straighten his normally curled tail, point it to the sky, run down a branch, and take off. Leonard didn’t really like showing off, but sometimes that Seth, the so-called leader of the “cool” lizards, pushed him, and making big leaps was all he could do to shut Seth up. Seth especially liked running his mouth when Suzzie was present.
Seth and his gang of lizards laughed at him, but truth be known, they were really just jealous. Having the ability to leap allowed Leonard to eat bugs that weren’t available to the other lizards, so he was also bigger than the other lizards his age.
One day, Seth devised a plot to show Leonard up and put him in his place. He challenged Lenard to jump to a distant bush. It was a hawthorn bush, so even if he made the leap, he was sure to get stuck by a thorn. To make matters worse, Seth made the challenge in front of Suzzie. Lenard always had a keen eye for Suzzie. As most of the other lizards did. In spite of Seth’s constant nagging, Leonard denied the challenge, saying, “There is no reason for me to make that jump”. Seth and the others began laughing at Leonard. They called him names like “scarred-e-cat”. Leonard ignored their comments. After several days of harassment, Leonard broke his silence. “I can make that jump, but there is no reason except to show off, by proving you’re wrong, but that’s not my style. Suzzie also tried to entice Leonard. She batted her eyelashes, and said, “Please, Leonard?” Leonard stood his ground. Confident in his abilities but not needing to flaunt, even for Suzzie.
Finally, after several days of intimidation, Leonard gathered all the lizards around him. In a soft voice, he said, “Trust me, I can make that jump, but I choose not to, simply to prove a point.” You can think what you like, but you’d be wrong this time. Your choice. Then he slowly strode away to hang out by himself on a different bush for a while.
Several weeks later, after all the hub-a-baleu died down, there was a big commotion. Apparently, a very young and small lizard had climbed up the hawthorn bush. Inching closer to this lizard was a large beetle that fed on small lizards. The future of this small lizard did not look good at all.
Without hesitation, Leonard’s tail stuck straight up in the air, and he leaped without even taking a running start. As Leonard soared through the air, he blurted out to the rest of the lizards watching. “You can believe me, or you can be wrooooong!”
Lenard guided his landing so that he avoided any thorns and landed right on top of the approaching beetle, thus knocking it off the branch, and it fell to the ground.
Leonard had saved the day. The smaller lizard climbed onto Leonard’s back. Leonard’s tail straightened, and he leaped, landing where all the other lizards had gathered, watching the spectacle. When Lenard and the small lizard, Stewart, landed, all the other lizards began cheering, even Seth. Suzzie even came up and gave Lenard a big hug.
Leonard showed that true confidence doesn’t need an audience. He believes what he believed and was be happy to share with others. He didn’t have any need to prove anything to anyone. This is true self-confidence
Often people confuse confidence and arrogance. Confidence resides inside; whereas, arrogance is displayed outside.
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