Smirk?

To the question 'What is the one thing that you would like your child to have', one of the many responses was confidence. Confidence would take them a long way as they know that what they are doing is right. They would march through life knowing jolly well that that is the way, the truth  and how it should be. Really?
May not. A certain amount of conviction is needed for one to do anything. The confidence that he has the knowledge to drive from point A to point B, the confidence that what he is doing today will reap benefit one day, the certainty that he would get up tomorrow as he lay his weary head to sleep...
On the other hand, a certain amount of uncertainty is needed to ensure that the loose ends are checked. It is normal that he is unsure whether he has offed all electrical appliances and rechecks them as he embarks on his long journey, he double checks his facts before he puts his life and name on a document and so forth.
We sure do not want a conceited fool who is cocksure about everything and overconfident that his 'yet another new venture' would see any daylight. Too often than not, we have seen again and again of fools who are only fools in the eyes of everyone else except the person concerned.
That comes to the question of what type of environment do we provide to the kids as they grow up meeting the challenges of future? Do we encourage them with showers of praises so that they would be bold enough to stand out on their own feet or do we plant the seed of doubt so that they would occasionally turn around and reflect themselves before they make an ass of themselves.
Sometimes it reaches the level of 'ad nauseam' to see parents praising to high heavens their children's seemingly feeble feats!
But then again, the seemingly great men in the history of mankind had weathered failures after failures to pursue their dream knowing and confident deep inside them of their cocksure confidence in themselves that they are right!