While surfing the internet, I came across a quote by Mark Twain: “To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence.” It got me thinking and has stuck with me ever since.

Ignorance and confidence are two traits possessed by everyone in the world, in different measures and expressed in different ways. While some might have too much, some people have too little.

Even though ignorance is generally seen as something negative in society, Twain said ignorance was part of success and I could not agree more. Combined with confidence, ignorance is a kind of courage.

Ignorance is a willingness to face the unknown despite the possible consequences. You cannot succeed without taking risks.

We should reach out and speak to people we usually don’t talk to, or when someone asks for a volunteer, we should step out from the shadows. In going out from our usual comfort zone, we can open up a plethora of opportunities.

People across the globe get up every morning to frown at their own reflection in the mirror. We hear all too often the words, “I can’t do it” in our school and in our community.

It is a human instinct to want to be loved, but how can we expect others to love us if we don’t even love ourselves? The answer is, we can’t. To truly love others, we need to first treasure ourselves.

Too many people are not ignorant enough, not confident enough. We should be brave enough to believe in ourselves and chase after what we want to do, no matter the obstacles.

If we always lower our eyes to the ground and slink back at dreams that seem too far away, we will never be able to get there.

We shouldn’t be over confident, of course, but once in a while we can take a blind leap of faith. Aim for opportunities that seem a little far-fetched. You’ll never know where you might find yourself.

Yes, every single one of us is different, but differences are what define us as an individual and those are the things we should be proud of.

Next time, look into the mirror and smile because that’s the brilliant combination of ignorance and confidence that brings out success.

16szhang@usd489.com