prayer for strength and confidence

Disclaimers: 1) This Blog is not to an official Boyer Valley site. The views expressed here and the links provided here are not necessarily those of the Boyer Valley Community Schools, it's administrators or board. It is the sole responsibility of Coach Mallory

2) My policy is of absolute transparency. I apologize to anyone who is ever offended by anything that I write here or reveal about discussions with me and issues we deal with as a squad here. I do so so that you know what I'm thinking and how I come to the decisions that I so. That's called "metacognition," you may disagree with my decisions and my motivations may be in error, but I prefer to be absolutely open, even at the risk of being wrong or unappreciated. When error is brought to my attention, I try to correct or admit the error.

3) I genuinely believe in a separation of Church and State- I try not to force my faith/beliefs on any of my students at school as a captive audience. This blog, however, as noted above, is not an official function of Boyer Valley schools. It is a site that people are free to view or avoid. To the best of my knowledge, all of the current squad members are believers, so I'd like to encourage them with the following prayer-

"Please help me," I prayed. "Please change me. I know You can do it because I've seen You make drunkards sober and turn thieves into honest men. Please take away these inferiority feelings that are holding me back. Take away this awful shyness and self-consciousness. Let me see myself, not as a scared rabbit, but as someone who can do great things in my life because You are with me, giving me the strength and confidence I need."
~Rev.Norman Vincent Peale,
'Positive Imaging' ©1982

I share this one with everyone because it's really a prayer that any cheerleader needs to pray. It seems like every year there's someone who's quiet, shy, or insecure. I know one JrHi cheerleader who seems so meek and diminutive that you'd hardly know she was there. These may have been sweet and charming traits in young women a hundred years ago, but they're necessarily qualities you need if you're supposed to be leading a crowd in getting loud. Besides hoping to build your confidence and increase your volume, I also want to arm you all, because being a cheerleader can be a bit like living in a fishbowl. You're up front and on display, therefore you become a target of greater scrutiny and sharper criticism than less prominent students at your school. It's unfair, but it's real. See your selves as confident and able to let snide comments roll off like water off a duck's back. Picture yourself as poised, comfortable, outgoing and having fun. Let that mental image sink in until your subconscious accepts it. Ask God to help you, even pray (or at least recite) Peale's prayer and you will become what you saw yourself being.