The Curse of Doubt

"It's not the power of the curse. It's the power you give the curse"
Penelope

I watched Penelope today, one of my favorite modern day fairy tales. This quote, close to the end of the movie, really stood out to me. During the film, Penelope constantly puts herself down and doesn't believe that her curse will ever be broken. She puts herself below others and doesn't believe in herself, until she breaks free. Once Penelope leaves everything she knows and takes control of her life, her confidence builds, and she finally has the power to overcome her own curse. She had the power to do this the entire time, but she only realized it once she believed in herself and started to pursue what she wanted in life.
It's a very valuable lesson, to discover the abilities you already have and do something about your doubts. Doubt has always been a big curse in my life, but sometimes I forget that the doubt is created by myself. Doubt is an obstacle that can be difficult to overcome when little or no self confidence is involved. The first step to conquering doubt is to realize who controls your doubt. Penelope discovers this when she steps out into the world and makes something of herself.
Another thing about doubt, it's not easy to overcome. But if Penelope had never conquered her doubt and discovered who she is, the movie would have had a lame story. I heard somewhere that you control your own story, even if you feel you have no power over it, but only you can change your story when you don't like the direction it's going in. I hope that a few people I used to know will learn this, because self doubt is not a fun element to live with for the rest of your life.
The first step is to believe that you will get there.