Who among us doesn’t remember the story of "The Little Engine Who Could?"
Here's a refresher. There is a sad group of toys whose railroad engine can't get over a mountain and they need. to get home. They ask other engines to pull them over the mountain but the other engines won't pull them. Along rolls a little engine who is willing to pull them over the mountain, but isn't sure if he can. He hitches the cars up anyway and starts off saying "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can." As he triumphantly bursts over the top of the hill he says "I thought I could, I thought I could, I thought I could!" He never said he couldn't do it even when he was unsure of himself. He tried and he did!
Too many of us have the "I can't do it" complex. We've all heard the excuses. "I’ll never pass." "My wife will divorce me." "I'll get fired on the spot." "They don't make underwear and shoes that "big." Do you recognize any of these statements? We all should! Ask yourself why I can’t, then interrupt yourself and ask, "Why can't I???" The "I can't do it" complex gradually fades when you realize things won't change unless you make it happen. A bit of self-confidence takes root and you make the gradual shift from "I can't do it" to "I think I can." Odds are you can pinpoint a specific moment when you made the decision to shift. Usually it manifests itself in a thought like, "Ok, I really have to pee, and I am not WILLING to hold it in till I get home anymore! Ladies room, here I come! I can do this!" We've just progressed into the "I think I can" stage.
The "I think I can" stage can be both darn fun and disappointing simultaneously, but it usually leads to success. We all know what it's like to be read (excepting those still in the "can't do it" stage), but we also never forget the thrill of carefully getting ready for that very first venture out on the town, and the terror of gingerly taking those unsure steps out the front door. The "I think I can" stage is where we learn. We're testing the waters a bit, and increasing self-confidence even more. Then as we find out the water really isn't bad at all, we then fall into the third stage - the "I thought I could!" stage.
The "I thought I could!" stage is the most fun of all. This is a time for exploring the boundaries (another "I think I can"). There's lot's of self-confidence and good feeling. An example of the "I thought I could!" stage could be a transgendered individual finally being comfortable with the fact he or she can go out into public and "pass", or even one step up on that, not worry about "passing." The self-confidence is the most important part of this stage, without it, the individual is still back in either the "I think I can" stage, where such confidence IS forming, but a bit shaky, or heaven forbid, still stuck in the "I can't do it" stage, where there is none at all. From here, it always comes full circle, with new challenges to tackle.
We can do whatever we want to and nobody stops us but ourselves. Whether it's walking out the front door in broad daylight, wearing that favorite polka-dot dress, or climbing a tall mountain, the only one holding us back is us. No more whining about "but I can't, because..." Yes you can, you just have to be like the little Engine and say, "I think I can." Come out to that spouse, family member, or friend you've been dying to tell. Go to the mall enfemme. Wear those thigh-hi boots with the spiked heels. (If you wear them at the mall, you won't be seen with me, but you can still do it!) We CAN do it. YOU can do it.
I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...
Postscript commentary:
You ever have the feeling you've just read Soviet propaganda?
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