One of the most inspirational days in my life came about as a fortunate accident. It was about three years ago when I was working as a communications associate for IFES and I was asked to moderate the opening ceremony for a program. As a result of that event, I learned confidence and I started writing.
It was already late in the afternoon on the day before the ceremony when I was selected to be the master of ceremonies for the Future Leaders Club event. I had only one night to get ready to moderate the ceremony. I was afraid to talk in front of all the high-ranking people. I was worried. Would I forget what to say? How would I look into all those eyes watching me at the same time?
I was stressed out, but that night I prepared the agendas for the program. In the morning when I got to the office I discovered I had left the agenda and other materials at home. Now I was completely lost as to what to do but I told myself to calm down. “No worries, Rabia, everything will be all right after drinking a glass of water.”
At the ceremony, my seat was far away from other colleagues, but I had a pen and paper and I started to write the agenda over again. While I was writing I got the idea to write three little poems—one was for the young people and the other two were for my homeland. I had never written a poem before.
When the ceremony started and I walked to the stage, I felt confident. I didn’t need to read from the notes. I felt comfortable speaking and making eye contact with the audience and it turned out that everyone was impressed. At the end many people asked me who was the poet who wrote the poems.
That day inspired me and I became an active member of this writing project. Being able to speak with confidence opened another pathway in my life and now I lecture at university. I appreciate God’s help and inspiring me with an unknown power on that day, a day that had a brilliant impact on my life.
Here is one of the poems I wrote that morning.
We are caught in challenges by the name of peace
Victim of fraud and captured in politics
Explosion and suicide surrounding all over
Witness of Taliban plotting and crime
Peace is the great gift of the God
Let go the prejudice
We are one nation.
By Rabia A.
U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Sarah Brown
A beautiful essay about the beginning of your writing journey — and a powerful poem that advocates for peace. I’m so glad you started writing!
This is a fine story. I’m fascinated by your being calm enough to rewrite the agenda – but especially that this action stimulated your first poems, right then. Congratulations on the good turn your life has taken.
Thats beautyful and inspiring story and poem as well,
Hello, I read your essay and I am completely blown away. The way you learned how to be confident is quite inspiring. I love the way you incorporated your inner thoughts when describing how nervous you were. I am delighted how you were so calm you were able to rewrite your whole speech right then and there, truly inspiring. You were able to execute your speech so fluently and beautifully that I wish I was there to see it myself. I am beyond excited to read more of your pieces of writing. This is beyond inspiring and moving. I wish you the best of luck on your writing journey.
Dear Rabia,
Your journey, to me, sheds light on the difference between gaining confidence in one’s own words and that of another. It is one thing to feel confident in something that is not your own, but another to have the confidence in oneself that sets one on a path to unconditional self-love. While both of these aspects of confidence, and all others, are validated, the story of your commitment to the task at hand provides a unique perspective into the process of growth and courage. I admire how confidently you walked onto the stage in spite of any lingering doubts of the quality of your performance, and I can almost hear the airy tone of confidence through which you present your poems. Though I wasn’t able to hear your eloquent words in person, I was made aware of the centuries of struggle that were hidden behind the road to inner and worldly peace through your writing. Your words serve as a reminder that despite the struggles of the individual, the strength of the community and the causes to which it commits itself will prevail. Specifically, I appreciate how you chose to include words of your own fears and how you were ultimately able to find a means of expression which resonated with you. This truly lined your words with the ability to touch the hearts of each of your readers; for that, thank you.