BY HAILEY MERKT
What creates that difference in people that labels a select few as cool? And what do cool people possess that makes their peers feel inferior or fortunate to be in their presence?
It can be argued that many factors attribute to this desirable label, but I think it can be boiled down to a single aspect — confidence.
For some confidence comes naturally. For others it’s just out of reach when needed, and for a few they think it will never be a part of who they are. But I think it’s achievable for everyone.
Confidence is what makes the cool, cool. As much as I hate to admit that someone who exudes confidence makes me feel inferior, deep down I envy something they have that I don’t, and I believe it’s a greater sense of confidence.
If everyone was confident and cool, it’s possible that the line between the cool and common people of our world would diminish (or at least subside until a new high bred of cool invents itself).
Wouldn’t it be nice to crush the cool and feel equal?
Now I’m not expecting to revolutionize the world, but it would be nice to inspire even just a handful of students or staff to work toward feeling confident as they walk through a large room full of people.
Here’s the hard part.
I wish there were modern-day medicines that came with the after-effect of confidence, but unfortunately, it’s all a mental matter. Just keep in mind that we are all people, none of us extraordinary or unusual and that it’s OK to have insecurities — everyone has them and always will.
We just have to learn to be comfortable with what we have and accept it and then confidence will build.
I know it’s impossible to convince every adolescent and adult that confidence is their golden ticket into the sacred group of cool, but personally I believe it is.
It creates an attractive glow that magnetizes others; it’s truly a magical characteristic. To be quite honest, some of the most attractive people I’ve met have not been “lookers” per se, but just comfortable people.
As American essayist, lecturer and poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson, once said, “The man of genius inspires us with a boundless confidence in our own powers.”
