I can take care of myself

My friends say I’m outspoken.
This trait, when it doesn’t get me in trouble, it gets me comments like this:
“I admire your confidence!”

How does one build confidence?
Like with everything else it’s best to start early. And practice often.
In my case, the foundation of my confidence was built by one man — my dad.
He did that all throughout my growing up years.
I’ll tell about a day that stands out from the rest.

I was in seventh grade.
One day after school I happened to be home alone (my dad had just stepped out).
I heard a knock at the door. It was the repairman (we were waiting for him).
Few minutes later my dad came back.

The repair job didn’t take long. Once done, he gathered his tools and left.
As soon as the door closed, my dad turned to me, and with a raised tone of voice said,
“You shouldn’t have let the repairman in when you were here by yourself.”
Stretching my seventh grader frame, as tall as I could, I answered in a respectful yet confident tone,
“I can take care of myself!”

My dad turned around without saying anything.
But he didn’t turn fast enough.
I saw the smile flooding his face.
I didn’t understand it at the time.
Years later I did.

I understood both: the choice not to reply. And the smile.
Dad postponed the lecture on safety for a later date.
He allowed me to enjoy the moment — and strut around my confidence.
That smile is one my most treasured memories.

Kudos to all the great dads out there.

Mariana Fieraru

Mariana Fieraru, an Eastern European transplant, fell in love with her new home shortly after landing in New York. She "discovered" pizza! Years later she still loves pizza. And so do her two feathered-kids, Sunny and Flipper

Mariana worked on both, the east and the west coast.
Big or small, each project she worked on helped define the importance of gaining and sustaining a competitive edge in an increasingly complex business environment.

Business know-how, love of teaching and writing – all combined in 2006 to form OBI.
Its mission: to make learning fun! And easy.

Through its training, consulting, and publications OBI builds bridges of knowledge to take you from where you are to
where you want to go. Using a mix of serious, informal, analytical, and optimistic approach, OBI truly makes learning fun.

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