I am often thinking of confidence...what makes a woman confident? What separates women who are confident from women who are not? What are some signs that a woman is confident?

1. Belief in yourself - accepting your uniqueness
2. Courage to stand up for what you believe
3. Discipline to say No
4. Continued growth
5. Ability to embrace life fully
6. Understanding there is a power greater than you
7. Ability to apologize

What a man thinks of himself, that it is which determines, or rather indicates his fate. ~Henry David Thoreau

Just as much as we see in others we have in ourselves. ~William Hazlitt

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

In a world that values who you are by what you look like, it's important to have confidence in yourself. For example, many times we see other women and imagine that there life must be so perfect because of how they look and we become intimidated by what we see. There are even times that we see someone that we just know our mates would go crazy over because of their appearance and then that red eyed demon of insecurity begins to take hold. The antidote to those feelings are confidence. Confidence, like happiness, has to be worked on daily. Just like you have to make a decision to be happy and then put in the work required to FEEL happy; it's the same with confidence. The comedian, Monique, says that as a child she was told daily that she was pretty. So although the world would look at her plus sized figure and say...hmmm...she has the confidence to say..at 200 lbs or 120 lbs I'm a beautiful woman. And she exudes confidence; it's apparent in the way she carries herself. Not just what she says but the non verbal statments she makes. Make it a daily practice to practice confidence. Tell yourself that you are worthy. Those old battle scars from childhood or from whenever that you still wear...you're too fat, too ugly, too skinny, too dumb, not good enough, not pretty enough, not smart enough....work on them each and every day. To each negative remark, counter it with a positive affirmation...I am good enough. I am pretty. I am smart. You will start to wear your confidence like a piece of beautiful clothing and everyone who encounters you will be able to see and feel it. In this world, no matter who you are, confidence is everything!

You know those women. Strong and confident. You can easily spot them out. It's not necessarily what they are wearing or even how they look. It's their energy. Really powerful and confident. You can tell they're at ease in their skin and their bodies. It doesn't seem like they're trying to impress anyone. just themselves. I love it! That's the kind of woman I strive to be.