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I ventured outside of my comfort zone today and attended a political event where Vice President Joe Biden was supposed to be the speaker. A friend of mine invited me and because I enjoy the company of said friend and would like to have more of it, I jumped at the chance. (Perhaps more on that later.) It wasn’t because I was too terribly interested in the Veep rambling on about Big Bird and binders full of women and horses and bayonets. No, I can get that kind of rhetoric sitting in front of my laptop licking the Cheeto dust from my fingers and downing half a two-liter of Orange Crush. I decided to go because life isn’t going to wait. If I want to really experience life then I need to get out and live it, not passively sit back and hope it’s going to call me over and make me the captain of its kickball team. I love my life and all of my achievements and intelligence notwithstanding, I lack a certain level of confidence to put myself out there and make things happen. Lots of people have said to me, you seem to have it all together, you’re so confident and you make it look so easy. Making it look easy is extremely hard. And I am by far my worst critic, as most of us are. It doesn’t stop me from pushing forward. And I will continue to seek out people and events and experiences that buoy that confidence. What’s important is to begin with a solid foundation of self-worth. The power of belief is critical. Believe in who you are and others will believe too. No one else can make that happen, and I wouldn’t want them to. Don’t look down and shuffle your feet in the dirt. Move toward the fear. Trust yourself.