I’ve recently learned that Confidence is one of my activations in the world—one of the things my energy prompts in you. So it makes perfect sense that I’ve been seeing stories of confidence lately.
Confidence Requires Courage
I have two excellent films—stories of growing confidence to share with you—both set against a background of war.
“ANZAC Girls”
Made as a TV series, released in 2014, this is the story of the Australian and New Zealander Nurses Corps in World War One—based on the real life stories of five nurses.
I’m vague on history, at best. My favorite way of learning about another time is to read or watch a story about it. When emotional life is brought in, it stays in my brain a lot longer. The acting in this series is excellent, its emotional life vivid.
This series has six episodes—I checked it out from my library as a complete set. The story actually ends—it isn’t left for another season. (Refreshing!)
War is horrible and graphic—and this movie will not spare you from what these courageous nurses faced. Be prepared for blood. It isn’t gratuitous violence (though who can argue the sense in war?) We quickly became engrossed in the characters and their story. It’s worth facing the blood.
Regarding confidence:
Although thoroughly trained, these nurses didn’t know what they were to be faced with until their medical station was filled, for the first time, with the cries of terribly injured young men. I am reminded that growing our confidence takes courage. It takes stepping into sometimes terrifying circumstances. When we do it in spite of our fear, we discover our reservoirs of strength and capacity. As you will see in the story, not everyone could do it. But these five girls did. Each girl has her own way of growing into herself, into her confidence. Which do you most relate to?
My only disappointment was seeing photos of the real girls at the end and realizing in life they were women of mixed race, while the film portrays them all as Caucasian. A level of the story was lost: yet another level of courage is required to build confidence when racial tensions come in. It also would have better explained some of the discrimination coming from the English nurses.
“The Best of Men”
Made for TV in 2012. Again, I found it at my library—I see both films are available through Netflix.
“The Best of Men” tells the tale of the founding of the Paralympics. A German Jewish doctor arrives at the spinal injuries clinic in England in World War Two. He finds patients merely being kept alive—heavily sedated, without effort toward mobility or any kind of life. He established a new way to care for these men, including physical training, and wheelchair sports—teaching them to be as self-sufficient as possible. The doctor needed immense courage and confidence—but in this movie, it is the courage of these young men—their confidence all but destroyed, to reinvest in their self-image, to reclaim their selves in new ways, that will bring tears to your eyes.
Outward challenges, as in wartime, force us to grow our confidence.
Growing our confidence when the challenge is within ourselves alone, can be harder because the motivation is all up to us. But these stories are excellent reminders that the path to confidence requires faith, courage, hope, and dedication.
Coach’s Challenge:
Watch one or both of these movies and pay attention to the journey of confidence. How about your confidence? What arena are you wanting more confidence in? Remember, confidence requires courage. How can you summon the courage to “jump in?”
