Thirty Days of Truth: Something You Love About Yourself

When I was in third grade, one of my teachers wrote a comment in my report card:

"Mama is a great student, but she tends to be too cautious. She doesn't like to take risks."

It was true. I was pretty shy in elementary school and even more shy in middle school. It wasn't until around the age of 14 that I broke out of my shell and decided to go balls out into the world, little by little.

I was a little girl who was afraid to take risks, afraid to fail. I was afraid to be disliked. Afraid to be wrong. Afraid to be scolded for not following directions. I was a pleaser, and pleasers don't color outside the lines.

Somewhere along the way, I changed.

I grew into a fiercely independent, confident woman, and I can't even put my finger on the turning point. There was no one profound moment, no watershed when I saw the truth for myself. The only factor that stands out is that I can say very surely that with all their quirks and all their flaws, my parents never once doubted that I could do anything and always, always, always supported me no matter what crazy idea I came up with next. They had to have something to do with the change in me.

And so, I ran -- and won -- student body president out of a high school of 2500 students. I flew to Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., the summer before my senior year in high school, attending programs at UCLA and Georgetown and navigating the airports and cities alone. I went away to college many states away from home. I applied for internships in the entertainment industry even though I had zero contacts there, and I ended up moving to New York City for the summer I turned 19 and lived and worked alone in one of the biggest cities in the world. I took on projects including managing hundreds of people for a national television show before my sophomore year in college. I moved to New York by myself after graduation and landed a job at a network. I later moved to L.A. with few friends to greet me, but only after requesting and receiving an interview with a legendary television producer who pledged to help me find a new job.

In my career after my career, I have finished both a triathlon and a half-marathon. I have returned a rental car and flown home with a three-year-old and a baby in tow and both their Britax carseats and a diaper bag and all our luggage. I have taken three kids to Disney by myself. I have guest blogged for the New York Times and lived to tell the tale. I have attended BlogHer on a whim and thrown myself into a sea of blogging strangers.

I am independent, confident, and brave. I can talk to anyone. I take risks. I am not afraid to fail. I am not afraid to put myself out there.

I love that about myself.

One of my biggest goals as a parent is to give the same to my children. I want to support them and have confidence in them until they can fly for themselves. I can honestly say that I look at the world and see what I can do, not what I can't. I want the same for my children. Because even when I am floundering or trudging through a dark place, I never stop believing that I will overcome, that I will make whatever is troubling me work out. It has been an incredible, invaluable gift.