confidence

There are two types of people in this world (I always wanted to write that phrase, but never got around to doing it properly), one egoistic, the other insecure. They both lie on the ends of the same continuum, of which somewhere in the middle lies the elusive point of being confident.

The egoistic type, in a bid to appear confident, or simply because it is in his nature to boost, always purports to preach and teach "the best ways" or "the correct view" to others (yes, I am well-aware of the irony here). Its almost instinctual at most situations, the egoistic would be the one constantly talking, telling people how they should feel, how the situations should be analysed, and how he's "been there, done that" and thus his ways should be more trustworthy. Rarely does he pause to reflect if his ways are really the best choices one could have.

The Insecure, also trying to appear confident, constantly insists on his own ways of doing things. Frequently being mistaken for the Egoistic, the Insecure does not, unlike the Egoistic, thinks that his ways are the best ways to do things. He just wanted to be different, to be confident of his own methods of doing things, resulting in him insisting too much on his ways and deaf to other alternatives.

The Confident, is not really a balance between the Insecure and the Egoistic, but more of a happy-go-lucky person who doesnt insist on his own ways, nor is constantly preaching about what are the best ways or paying lip-service to finding them. The Confident is satisfied with doing things in the best way he knows, quietly and without thinking they are indeed the best ways possible, and always ready to review his ways and measure them carefully in light of new alternatives.