This I Believe

Have you ever read or been read the story about the little engine that could? The little train engine who climbed steep hill? Who stated the phrase “I think I can” and did what he believed impossible, just by believing in himself? I have had the story read to me many times by teachers, family, friends, and have even read the story by myself. I have also read the story to my younger sister and some of the kids I babysit for, and every time I hear the story I reflect on my life and the challenges I face that sometimes seem impossible. This I believe: That believing in yourself, saying those simple words “I think I can” can make a world of difference in being able to overcome the obstacles that life throws at you.

A couple of years ago, though it seems like forever, I was kicked out, graduated might be the better word, of my second home, my grade school. I had attended St. James for over eight years and the people that made up St. James were my family. It was as comfortable for me as was my own home. But then I graduated and entered high school. I was scared, overwhelmed, and sad when I entered the doors of the high school on Fourth and Breck, Pres. I was new and small part of this unfamiliar place filled with unfamiliar people. I wasn’t home but in another world. I thought that I would never adapt to the pile of homework that seemed to keep growing, the teachers that seemed to never stop teaching. No matter how much my parents comforted me and told me that I would adjust, I believed that I never could, or would. But as the first months passed, I started to realize that it was up to me to complete the work, that it was up to me to believe in myself and that I could do this high school thing. I had to think I could.

So whether it is adapting to a new school, speaking in front of the class, or just believing that I can keep going when life gets tough, I think about the little engine that could and the life lesson that it teaches. The key to success is to believe in yourself, have the confidence that you can do what you believe to be impossible. If you think you can, you can. In myself, I believe.