"Did you do your best?"

My mom asked me to post about how I thought I became a responsible and successful young woman. I've been thinking about it for the last few days, and it wasn't really a list or a specific lesson that came to mind.

I think the thing that has really made me successful and responsible is the fact that I was always encouraged to be proud of myself and my work. When I did great at something, like an assignment or a role in a play, I was made to feel proud of myself. When I didn't do so well at something, my mom always asked me, "did you do your best?" If I had, then I had no reason not to be proud of my performance.

I knew that my parents were proud of me, of course, but I was also taught to be proud of what I have done. In middle school and high school, my friends would tell me about how their parents were upset with them for grades they had gotten or how their parents pressured them into spending long hours on homework or something else. I never felt like I was being pressured, though. I wanted to do well because it made me feel good, because I knew that the things I did represented me. And I knew that if I tried my best I had something to be proud of.

Unfortunately, I don't know exactly how this sense of self-pride was instilled. I think it has something to do with positive reinforcement for good behavior and only asking for someone to do her best. I know a lot of kids that I went to school with resented their parents for nagging them about grades or activities or anything else, but I always felt like I was supported or steered gently in the right direction.

Sorry I'm not on Facebook anymore, everybody! I'll be back soon, probably. It was a crazy two weeks of school (four papers, an oral exam, and two presentations) and I needed to eliminate all the time-wasters I could. Don't worry, I did my best on all of them...