There is a Good and a Bad Kind of Doubt

There is a good and a bad kind of doubt. Good doubt motivates us to test things out; bad doubt stops us from doing that. Shakespeare said of the latter: “Our doubts are traitors, / And make us lose the good we oft might win, / By fearing to attempt.”

Robert Weston was surely referring to the good kind of doubt when he said: “Cherish your doubts, / For doubt is the handmaiden of truth. / Doubt is the servant of discovery; / She is the key unto the door of knowledge. / Let no man fear for the truth, that doubt may consume her; / Only he that would shut out his doubts denieth the truth.”

I have sure had my share of doubts, about most everything. I was always asking the uncomfortable question, “How do you know?” about this or that, or “How can you prove it?” I could not accept things on faith. I suppose I would have had an easier time of life if I had been able to accept and believe, but I have always sought to know for myself. I want to test things out; I am not satisfied accepting the witness of others about what I myself have not witnessed.

I am familiar with both the good and bad kinds of doubt. I have had many a wrestling match with self-doubt, with the inner naysayer whispering, “You cannot do it; you are not good enough.” I’ve learned that if I listen long or too well to such doubt, I will only get in my own way.

Fortunately, I’ve had much more of the good kind of doubt, hounding me to do and discover. Such doubts continually set me in motion, into action. Such doubts are really an invitation to personal discovery. You should fear your doubts about as much as you fear your questions. Doubting and questioning are good things when they lead you to investigate. And I have treasured those questions which open the door to investigation.

I believe that not only is the truth out there, but the truth can be known directly, including the Absolute Truth, absolutely. I am grateful to say that I know things I can neither doubt nor deny – yet I cannot put into words.

It saddens me to see people derailed by the bad kind of doubt, knocked off the tracks of potential discovery and achievement, merely by the doubt that they are good enough or that what they seek is attainable. How are you going to know what you can or cannot do or learn unless you actually attempt to determine it through persevering action?

History is full of people who did things others said they could not do. The path to achievement and discovery is strewn with the doubts of naysayers. How much easier it is to doubt than to do, to doubt that something can be done than to doubt that something cannot be done. If Edison had believed his doubters, we would have no electric lights, nor would the Wright Brothers have ever attempted to fly.

Rather than silencing your doubts, hear them out, then take action to test them out. Risk believing that you will be able either to resolve your doubts, or at least to learn enough to accept what you must on faith, rather than provability. You will likely discover that what you can actually know or do is far greater than you thought possible.