I was always looking outside myself for strength and confidence, but it comes from within. It is there all the time. – Anna Freud

It comes from within.  That’s either a very profound statement, or the tagline for a cheesy horror movie. Since I tend to write about positive thinking, we’re going to go with the profound statement.

It comes from within. What exactly does that mean?  To me it means that it’s up to you.  If you want to get it done, you’re the one who has to get it done.  That doesn’t mean you can’t get support from somebody else, or lean on somebody else. But in the end it had to come from you. Again, I’m thinking about the kids that I work with and their ever changing relationship statuses.  Their with somebody and he or she is their life, their world, their everything.  And then it ends, and for a few days I hear “I’m nothing without him/her.”  “My life means nothing.  He/She was everything to me.”  I’m not going to lie, I kind of want to smack them upside the head and tell them to grow up.  Then I remember, they’re kids and that’s what they’re doing. They’re growing up.

They need to learn (and so do a lot of adults) that who they are, and what they can do isn’t tied to anybody else.  Neither are their accomplishments.  Again that doesn’t mean you can’t work with someone, or garner support from another person, but in the end, you need to look to yourself. Reach inside yourself, dig down and find those reserves of inner strength and confidence.  If comes from within.