Cocky or Insecure?

Confident? That I certainly am.

Cocky…. Never.

Confidence is appealing.

Cockiness is rather unattractive…at least to me.

There is a significant difference between to the two characteristics. Confident individuals hold their head high. They are their own motivation. Often, confident individuals are very secure with themselves, their appearance, their mannerisms, their lifestyle, and they rarely brag. Nevertheless, they still have insecurities. What human doesn't? Cocky individuals on the other hand don’t share these same positive qualities. A cocky person is often boastful. They are frequently in the limelight. They are that person everyone else would like emulate because they brandish such great stature. They strive to be the center of everyone’s attention. This attribute is perhaps their greatest weakness. It is their insecurities that drives them toward desires for attention. Cocky individuals are not confident enough in themselves, therefore they seek attention from others to reassure them and constantly extinguish their vulnerabilities. They need someone else to say they look good, or they are intelligent, or they are talented in order to feel the same. A confident person will admit to their failures and weaknesses but embrace them as obstacles they can slowly overcome and also utilize them as tools to make them better people. Cocky people will never admit to any flaw. They want to appear perfect in every aspect. As a result they bring themselves down by obsessing over these flaws instead of conquering them.

I greatly detest cocky people i.e. Kanye West and others. Kanye West is beyond talented. Does he know it? Sure maybe he does. But I don't believe he feels it. Maybe if he did, he wouldn't need to run on stage at every award show to berate the judges and lament over how he felt he should have won. You don't need an award to know you are a winner. If you are talented, you will know it, and so will others.

Although I do not favor cockiness, I understand in many, if not all, cases, cockiness may be a result of someone's childhood. Maybe Kanye was not given enough attention. Maybe he was reproved by classmates in school. Maybe he was constantly told he wasn't talented or that he would never make it in life. I'm not sure. Confidence begins in childhood. If you are surrounded by an empowering family (blood or not) that motivates you on all your conquests, then maybe you will grow to be more sure of yourself. If this essential support is deficient, then surely a child's confidence is deficient as well. Of course no child should be raised without motivational support, but no child's upbringing can be controlled.

This is just food for thought.

-Free