The Washington herald., 1915-02-14
RATING YOURSELF.
By ORIsoN SWEET MARDEN

| But for the heroic maid Joaa of Arc
| France would be today merely a de-
pendency OF England. a conquered and
| Subject colony.
BY what magic did a poor. Hnlettered
peasant girl of eighteen. who knew Moth
! ing whatever Of warfare, who had never
/ before been away from her humble viii
Iage home. lead a great army to victory l.?
Whence came the power and wisdom that
enabled a timid. shrinking maiden to in
! fuse new life and courage into the dis
hearteneG legiOns Of France to do what
great generals had failed to do?
The magic, the power. the wisdom. the
heroic courage that saved a great nation
| from defeat were born of self-cOnfidenCe.
I In spite OF ridicule and opposition, Joan
chung to her belief in her divnely ap-
pointed mission to save France. Nothing
could divert her from her purpose. To all
| objections her answer was that voices"
called her TO it, God willed it
| II is this divine self-cOnfidehce. this IN
wavering belief in ones mission in life.
that acComplishes all the marvels of the
| world.
/ A great many men and women who
wonder why people do not believe more in
! them carry the reason in their very faces.
! Everybody who looks at them sees there
a confession of weakness. lack Of self
faith. a doubt OF their own ability And
when we see that people do not believe
in themselves we do not believe in them
How Is il possible for man who has
no confidence in himself to get the conf
dence of others? How can one expect
others to believe he will ever amount to
anything when he says by his very eye
and manner. DO not take much stock in
me; do not believe I can do much Of
anything. for ! cannot. | do not believe
very much in myself. You are mistaken
II you think | am capable Of doing any
very important work" How can any
one reach a faraway and desirable port,
who is always waiting for the tide to
take him along? II one never takes the
initiative IL he can help it, how can he
expect to get anywhere worth while?
There is nothing more fatal to success
than sef-distrust II IS a crime. The
mJN who takes no stock in his own
ability has nothing upon which to base
assurance OF victory.
The man is not quite right who sIcaks
and skulks and gets in a corner-the
man who always takes the back seat in
the hall or the church. as though he were
afraid somebody would see him. tho man
who effaCes himself. who always depreCi-
atcs himself. who always begs yOu to put
somebody else on t"e committee. who al
ways thinks, no matter what the OCCa-
sion. somebody else can do better than he
can
He who sinks out Of sight. who never
thinks he is Just the man to do this OF
that. who believes that perhaps some
body else could do much better, shows
that he has no faith in himself that he
does not really believe in himself AS he
has lived with himself all his life. he Is
supposed to be better judge Of his own
ability than others. and people naturally
take him at his own rating. As a rule.
A. II ngaF
of himself
When you go to a man for a position.
or a favor. or an order look him In the
eye and tell him what YOU want. Ap-
proach him fearleSsly. with confidence
and assurance. with A consciousness of
ability and strength. and YOU will be
much more likely to get the thing you
desire Your own moods are contagious.
and the man YOU approach will feel your
confidence or lack OF it very quickly.
Many people are all the time ''Queering"
their own interests by communicating
their doubts to others. 1t is very diff
fcult thing to clinch a bargain with
great big doubt in your own mind. To
convince another. you must be convinced
yourself. Doubt in yourself cannot bring
conviction to another.
Doubt, uncertainty. fear of failure. lack
of faith in oneself are the great enemies
of mankind.
The just honoring Of ourselves" says
Milton. may be thought the foundation
from whence every worthy enterprise
issues forth" The miracles Of CiviliZa-
ton have been performed by men and
women who Justly honored. by believing
in themselves. The list of those who,
amid jeers, disbursements, obstacles Of
all kinds, have banked solely upon
their belief in themselves is long one.
(Copyright leI5N