Never underestimate the power of believing in others

The knowledge that someone believes in you is a powerful thing.

Sometimes, believing in ourselves seems impossible. We hit low-points in life when we question everything. Moments when we struggle to have the strength to keep striving towards our goals.

At those moments, when we can’t find the strength to believe in ourselves, one of the most powerful things that someone else can do is choose to believe in us.

When I first had the idea of forming a newspaper immediately after graduating from college, I pitched it almost as a joke to a friend. I knew it would never happen, so it was just one of those casual moments, when you say, “hey wouldn’t it be crazy if we did this?”

It was a pipe dream that was utterly impossible, and I knew it could never happen.

But in that moment, something incredible happened.

She took it seriously. She believed in this crazy idea. Not only that, she kept believing in it, and when I started mentioning it to other friends, she continued to support it. Finally, after I graduated, she agreed to help when I said I wanted to formally pitch it to a group of our friends.

If you haven’t guessed already, I’m talking about Hannah, and the rest of The Sunrise News team. They chose to believe in this crazy idea and now here we are.

That belief was a powerful thing. Without it, I don’t know that I would have had the courage to even really start to consider doing this.

After I started this endeavor with the other members of the team, there were a lot of moments I didn’t talk to any of them about, where I wondered if I’d made a mistake. Moments when I wondered if I had any business trying to launch a small newspaper. Moments when I almost gave up.

But I didn’t give up. Because I knew that there were people who believed in me. And because, while the dream may have started with me, it doesn’t really belong to just me. This dream belongs to all of the staff that have chosen to work on The Sunrise News. It belongs to the people who have chosen to support us financially, helping us pay for needed resources. And, of course, it belongs to all of our readers, who think that our work is worth their time.

Sunrise isn’t a booming success — yet — but just starting is a success on its own.

I know that there will be days when I will doubt myself. But I also know that I can keep going, because I know there are people who have believed in me and put trust in me.

And this is incredibly powerful. Because, I don’t want to let those people down. Sometimes the weight of that responsibility does get a little heavy. But mostly, it strengthens me.

I don’t think that I’m alone in this feeling. We all need a little help sometimes, and there is no shame in that.

So, don’t forget to tell the people in your life that you believe in them. When you have faith in their abilities to succeed in something, let them know. Your belief could give them the strength they need to succeed.

Belief is a powerful thing.