Celebrating…with Confidence!

And what a Celebration!

The last week has been amazing! I celebrated my 50^th Birthday and spent the day seeing friends and family and being totally spoilt. The next day, my husband took me to stay at the amazing Le Manoir, Raymond Blanc’s 2 Michelin star Hotel – wow – what a treat!

As we arrived, the Porter opened my car door greeted us and took our bags. He obviously phoned reception ahead as when we got there, Ian, one of the Managers, greeted us by name and wished me a happy birthday. What excellent customer service!

Our evening meal was exquisite. A 5 course meal plus hors d’oeuvres and petit fours! My taste buds are still bursting from remembering the best Mushroom Risotto I have ever tasted – by far. We had a wonderful table where I could observe the waiters and other guests. I am a bit of a “gazer” and every time I caught the eye of the waitress – she would zoom over to check we were ok.

I do so enjoy sitting, relaxing and people watching. Ok – I’m a bit of a nosey parker! There was a young couple over the room to us and we also saw them at breakfast. I did feel for them. I think they felt a bit out of their depths. The young lady avoided all eye contact to the waiter and at breakfast did seem overawed by the array of dishes. She did look uncomfortable. However, I am sure that they will remember their special time for years to come. At the other end of the scale, another couple were blowing their own trumpet rather loudly– the best car, best schooling etc. I wonder why they felt they needed to boast so much.

This reminds me of one of our key learnings about building confidence and which we share on our Confidence Workshop. It’s not about external props – yes these can give you a very short burst of feeling more confident but are not long lasting. True confidence is about being able to feel comfortable in our own skin despite finding ourselves in situations outside of our normal environment. The great thing is that you can learn to be confident – and then you can cope with whatever challenges life throws at you – including enjoying spending time at one of the best hotels in the country!