Hello There, VivBounty here to share with you the immense courage, progress and self esteem I've gained in life just from the folks who have believed in me over the years. My immediate family, teachers, bosses, and dear friends have often believed in me long before I ever believed in myself. In fact, if asked the question, "Can you do this or that?", I would frequently waffle mumbling something about possibly trying, citing similar things I've done similar but not really being an expert but rather a jack of all trades, master of none, etc. My greatest accomplishments have been when faced with adversity, plopped into an assignment or asked to assist someone I care about, not having too much time to think about it seems to be of benefit in my case. I could very easily talk myself out of doing anything if left to my own devices.

My late father used to tell me when writing resumes and interviewing to just say I'm a quick study, not to say that I don't know, and when it comes to languages listed therein, say I have a working knowledge of them. He was a firm believer that there's no such thing as "I can't". One of my bosses trained me to sell a varied catalog of exotic and cultural tours, and if asked whether I'd been to this or that place, to say "Not recently". Needless to say I despise job interviews, in spite of acing them, like selling even less, but made a fantastic telemarketer and worked successfully as a tour coordinator with that company for over 5 years.

Going back to high school, I recall having a terrible fear of public speaking. At age 9 I led my class assembly in the school prayer, but that was subconscious because we did it daily and the only difference was I now was standing at the mic in the front. I don't think I looked up once.

Moving from the UK and a private girls school, complete with uniform and no concept of elective subjects, being immersed into my first Canadian school was cultural shock to say the least. First there was no uniform. Second I actually had a choice of subjects beyond the mandatory academics. I needed to pick 2 electives at age 12 when I had never been asked what I want in my entire educational experience. After some coaxing from the school counselor, I picked French, having some French heritage and a basic grasp of the language, and viola lessons in music because it was 6 weeks before the term ended and my cousin who was the same age as I, took viola lessons so they stuck me in her class. I liked French and did well but absolutely bombed, to put it mildly, at playing the viola so I dreaded that class and dropped it in the next year.

Fast forward 5 years, acing French all the way it was my last year in high school. Our final French assignment for the term  we had to give a short oral presentation explaining the meaning of a phrase or expression in French. This speech counted for 80% of our marks for the year. In my panic, I did anything I could to avoid this assignment. I skipped class one day, left class early another day feigning illness and reporting to the nurse's office to hide until the end of class until eventually my teacher informed me that if I didn't do the presentation, I would fail the year. I was mortified! Seeing my pallor, knowing I was a good student with plugged-in parents, she sat me down for a talk. She cited papers I'd submitted which got top marks, reassuring me that I had a good grasp of this language. She kept her promise to be sitting nearby and help me if I got stuck when my turn to present came.

We chose the term casse croûte which, when literally translated means break crust, in English. I defined the the term, explaining in French, its meaning being to snack and that one would have it at a café and each time I stumbled Mrs. McMullen prompted me, got me through it, and gave me high marks, passing the term.

The next time a person believed in me before I believed in myself, it was my sister. She would then become the one who always admonishes me when I'm on the verge of giving up, making me pick myself up, dust myself off and and try again.

In my early 20's I flew from Toronto to Pittsburgh to visit her, arriving during her lunch hour. We arranged it so that she wouldn't park, but circle the airport until she saw me outside, and I'd hop in. I didn't expect her to have my nine-month-old nephew in the car.

Our father always said when teaching us to drive that once you learned, you could drive anything. Her car at the time was larger than any I had driven thus far in my 7-year driving experience.

We drove back towards her new office, she hopped out leaving my nephew in his car seat, directed me to her house, gave me instructions on what to feed him, how to warm it, test its temperature, and said pick her up at 5 p.m. Not having time to think, I said "OK" and pulled off.

Wonder of wonders, I found my way from her office to her house, handled the infant's lunch just fine, took care of him for the afternoon, put him safely back in his car seat, went back to pick her up as if I'd been doing it all my life.

Later that same year, we agreed that I would go and pick this same infant nephew up, and fly with him back from Pittsburgh to Toronto, keep him for 10 days while she and her husband went to the UK on vacation. 

Being my sister, I figure she knew not to give me too much time to think about any task or favour. Arriving at their home, my brother-in-law, who was then a flight attendant, gave me a quick lesson on how to place a baby in case of turbulence and emergency in flight.

I had baby snacks, his rubber hammer, a teething toy, umbrella stroller, documentation from both parents certifying birth and giving me permission to take their child out of the country. I had never flown with an infant. We were flagged at Immigration, taken into a room, where we sat at a desk across from the officer, I was asked whose child this is, our papers checked, and given clearance. For nine months of age, he was good as gold throughout the process.

Gate agents and other passengers thought he was my child and paid endless compliments on his cuteness and behaviour. Upon take off, he held on tight to my shirt with one hand, squeaky rubber hammer in the other, never making a peep.

Our lift in Toronto was a bit dicy. The irresponsible relative parked illegally, got my mother's car towed, causing us to have to wait in the airport for another hour while he went to re-claim the car. Again my nephew was good as gold. I gave him a little quarter of a polo mint which he sucked on happily until our ride came for us. We had a lovely 10 days with this wonderful baby, until his parents came for him.

Miraculously I had enough hands for him, stroller, and carry-on bag and I wondered how my mother had managed at age 23 with 3 little girls aged 5, 4, and under a year. Looking back I see what immense faith and trust my sister and brother-in-law must have had in me to hand me their baby just like that.

My high school French teacher and my sister started the ball rolling when it came to believing in me before I believed in myself.

I would eventually work as a tour coordinator for 5 years. This meant being the in the reservations department, taking bookings from travel agents for their clients, issuing tickets, arranging for visas, creating itineraries and the like all from my desk over the phone. 18 months after I began that job, my boss came to me and said he was sending me to Spain for the weekend to meet with a group of "snow birds" we had in Spain. Seeing the shock on my face, he said I'd have to dress in a business-like manner because I would be flying first class for maximum comfort given the great distance between Toronto and Malaga, Spain. He had a new tour in the works, which he wanted to promote to the pensioners. So diverting my nerves with instructions, telling me I would be met by local representatives, probably wined and dined, taken to the Castillo de Santa Clara hotel, which was part of our "Winter Escapes To Spain" program for Canadian "snow birds" where I would then host a wine and cheese reception, show the movie presentation of our next tour, answer questions and make sure all needs were attended to like space heaters, enough blankets, etc. Finally lunch with the local reps before they transfer me from the hotel back to the airport for my flight home. There were many firsts on this trip, my first time flying first class, my first time speaking to a group of people, my first trip to Spain and a taste of what it would be like to actually do my dream job.

The next time my boss believed in me, he sent me to Africa to research and negotiate components of a safari tour including Kenya and Egypt. This again was another first. I had no idea what to ask or say, but he coached me, gave me tips and an outline of what my report needed to include to meet all the criteria for the airline and hotel industry personnel rates. This again was manifestation of the next step up of my dream career. It was nice to travel as a professional, be met by local representatives, be accepted as the spokesperson of the company, travel to my favourite destination and actually have a tour package result as part of our company catalog.

Finally the latest example of someone believing in me before I believe in myself. This week we have been without our head trainers. Two weeks ago my mentor, online networking associate, trainer for the past year at LGT and friend suggested to the company owner that I be given a moderator code and be trained as a trainer. She is the senior trainer at the moment, but needed to be away with her family for quite a bit of October. I am now a moderator and trainer at Lead Generating Tools and this past week I actually had control of the room one day. It was such a good feeling to be able to help a couple of members over hurdles with their Web sites and HubPage accounts.

Like I said, left to my own devices, I would never have volunteered for this, having almost no training and a lack of confidence. I will certainly be glad to relinquish the training and moderating back to the 3 senior trainers when they return, but for now the other 2 trainers and me the rookie, are holding the fort and keeping the home fires burning. It's a good feeling.

Prosperous Blessings,
VivBounty