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Thursday, March 3, 2011

Doubt, part 3

Sometimes I wish I was a person with strong beliefs.  I fantasize how much easier my life would be if I didn't have doubt.  I think people with certainty are happier.  I think they are stronger.  I think they are more peaceful.   Because my doubts range from the bigger questions of spirituality to the worldly questions of what I should be doing with my life, it seems as if I spend a lot of time bumping up against the issue of doubt. 

Actually, I can recall a period in my life when I wasn't struggling with doubt.  I was one of the most certain people I have known.  I knew I was right about pretty much anything.  When I engaged in "discussions," it was all about proving my point instead of learning something new.  Ugh!  Now that was miserable!  My rigidity translated itself into my body and I had constant headaches and back pain.  My relationships weren't full of affection and they often needed alcoholic lubrication to flow.  Most days, I experienced an undercurrent of anxiety, even though I wouldn't have admitted it at the time. 

It helps to remind myself of this when I fantasize about how easy certainty makes life.  I realize the fantasy is just not true. That type of certainty is a mental state, just like doubt.  They're both something the ego can use to create a more solid identity. 

What I'm looking for is something beyond the ego to reconcile my experience of doubt.   

1 comment:

  1. Interesting that we claw at certainty as if it would relieve all of our pain...when maybe what we need is open, peaceful acceptance of the uncertainty it all. Even with previous first hand experience of what it felt like to 'be certian', the ego can still insist that is the missing key. I am thankful for every reminder i can get when it comes to how miserable i end up feeling when i push my opinion, or interact with and agenda of changing minds.
    -crissy

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