Doubt

When you have doubt about one thing, it takes over your mind and crowds out everything else. Doubt eats away at your confidence. It acts like a tape playing over and over; a tiny, annoying voice reminding you endlessly of what you may be in capable of doing. Did you see the word may? See doubt is paralyzing. It causes fear when you haven't even experienced anything yet. And you probably won't because of doubt.
Here's a question - until it happens, why doubt? Doubt gives you permission to fail - to not try - to give up; quit. It provides you with a built in excuse. When you have doubt as you attempt something and it doesn't work out, doubt will be there to remind you why you should have "followed your mind" and - stayed home - not dated that guy - kept your money; not said anything...The truth is, your friend doubt kept you from really trying. So, you got exactly what your passion-less effort produced. Amazing how powerful our mind is!
And when you bring doubt into your relationship, it may as well be another man or woman, for it is surely a third person. Doubt is a monster. It will ooze and seep and destroy. You will only hear the negative chatter in your mind when talking. You will absorb things that may or may not really be there, and you will take those things into conversations with your friends who will rally to support you and bash your mate. After all, friends love and support you, and of course they want to protect you. And when that person leaves, doubt will be there to comfort and remind you why you should have listened to your mind and not your heart in the first place and not have gotten involved. You got what you expected.
Here's the thing; there's no magic pill to know what the future holds. And there's no guarantee that having faith in anything will allow it to work out. But doubt and fear are damaging. It's better to invest that energy in believing in yourself enough to go into things with open eyes. Have enough faith in your sense of judgment. Ask questions - and listen and believe the answers. Know your standard of excellence - what you will and will not tolerate. Respect yourself first. And be willing to walk away when you have enough information to know something is wrong.
From this day forward, have the courage to have just a little bit of faith in yourself....V