Why Every Girl Needs an “I Can” List

Written by Shannon Hembree

We hear a lot about faith – faith in God, faith in our government officials, and faith in other people. But, oddly enough, we don’t hear a lot about having faith in ourselves.

It seems like such a simple thing, but with all of the pressures and negative messages swirling around young women today about everything from how girls look to the person they are dating, it’s easy to get beaten down in the storm. You need to have faith in yourself. Having faith in yourself means everything – it means believing in yourself, sometimes when it seems like no one else does.

And why shouldn’t you believe in yourself? Girls are amazing! Girls write poetry, they excel in school, they volunteer in their communities, and they run their own companies.

Just look at Jessica Watson, a teenager from Australia. She recently became the youngest person ever to sail alone and unassisted around the world. Her quote says it all. “People don’t think you’re capable of these things – they don’t realize what young people, what 16-year-olds and girls are capable of. It’s amazing, when you take away those expectations, what you can do.”

Like Jessica, we all have an inner strength. It can be hard to imagine it sometimes, particularly when someone has posted something really awful about you online, or excluded you from something, or gotten a group of people to laugh at you. But the truth is, you do have an amazing strength within you. Everyone does. If you reach deep within yourself to find it, and if you have faith in yourself, no one can keep you down for long.

So here’s your chance. Take a couple of minutes and come up with three things that you are really proud of about yourself. Be your biggest cheerleader. Are you a good friend? A good listener? Maybe you are a stellar student, a clever writer, a talented artist, a dependable volunteer, a great sibling, or an awesome athlete.

List of Things To Do!

 Keep a running list of things you come up with today, and add to it tomorrow, and the next day, and the next. Consider this your “I can” list, because when you value yourself and believe in yourself, you can achieve anything. Just ask Jessica Watson.

Photo Location

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1068821

Tags: artist, athlete, Faith, god, good friend, good listener, I can, Jessica Watson, sibling, student, volunteer, writer, young women