Commentary on Doubt
Iyanla Vanzant

  

It is a proven scientific fact that no two things can occupy the same space at the same time.  This theory applies to the mind and heart of human beings.  Where there is trust there can be no doubt.  The moment doubt enters, trust has disappeared.  You cannot believe and doubt.  To believe is to know, understand, and accept the immutable truth.  The truth does not change.  The truth cannot be altered.  Where there is total, unquestioning reliance on the truth, there can be no doubt.  Doubt enters our consciousness and invades the mind when we forget the truth, and when we do not trust in the omnipresence of the divine law.

Doubt is bred in the mental state of attachment or emotional investment in the outcome.  When we have a fixed idea of how things should be and how we want them to look, we become doubtful that we will get what we want.  The doubt stems from our beliefs, many of which hinge on our thoughts and feelings of unworthiness.  When we believe we are not worthy of having what we want, we doubt that we can or will receive it.  Doubt is also the mental and emotional response to our need to be in control.  To be in control we must know everything about everything.  We fix our sights on a particular outcome and a method of achieving that outcome.  When it appears that our plans are going awry, the natural response is fear, which is the primary ingredient of doubt.  Control-based doubt is what we call worry.  Worry is the direct descendant of the need to be in control.

What we must realize is that we cannot see everything.  We do not know everything.

More important, we must understand that it is impossible for us to control anything.  The process of life is a spiritual one, governed by invisible, intangible spiritual laws and principles.  When we are in alignment with those laws and principles, we experience the natural outcome of the laws in action.  The laws bring into manifestation the will of God.  This is a will for the good of everyone.  When we understand and embrace this truth, there is never a reason to doubt.  We know that no matter what it looks like, the final outcome will be something good.

We attract into our lives that which we focus upon with the strongest intent.  Unfortunately, most of us do not monitor our thoughts, and therefore have no idea what we are thinking about most of the time.  Even on those occasions when we do focus, do plan, do concentrate on our intended desire, we evaluate our progress toward achievement by the appearance of physical evidence.  We evaluate and judge what we see as the determining factor of our progress toward a desired end.  When one predetermined element fails to appear as we have determined it should, we doubt ourselves and our progress.  The moment a seed of doubt becomes embedded in our thoughts, we can become so preoccupied with fixing what has apparently gone wrong that our thoughts shift from the desired outcome.  We are now focused intently on ensuring that nothing goes wrong.  Forestalling wrong, rather than desired intent, becomes the focus.  That focus will ultimately grow into the very thing we fear, the failure to obtain the desired outcome.

Constant prayer and affirmation are the strongest defenses against doubt.  Praying for guidance and believing that we have received it will bring our actions into alignment with Divine Will.  Affirming the truth about ourselves and life will set into motion the spiritual principles of divine order and divine timing.  We always get exactly what we need when we need it, even when we are not aware that we need it.  Learning to live without having to evaluate every appearance, while remaining focused on our desire, knowing that it is the outcome of a good intent, leaves no room for doubt to grow in the conscious mind.  Intent is the energy that supports expectation.  Expectations always determine results.  When we expect to be guided and protected and to receive the benefits of Divine Will, we can expect the results of all endeavors to be favorable.

  

Our own doubts are our greatest barriers in any endeavors.  We are
only free and able to accomplish what we think we can.  When doubt
arises, defeat is not far behind.  However, that principle is just as
strong in reverse.  When we believe in ourselves, nothing can hold us
back.  Our accomplishments are many when we've developed
the habit of self-assurance.

unattributed

  


  
quotations - contents - welcome page - obstacles
our current e-zine - the people behind the words - articles and excerpts
Daily Meditations, Year One - Year Two - Year Three - Year Four
     

Sign up for your free daily spiritual or general quotation
~ ~ Sign up for your free daily meditation

   

  
®

All contents © Living Life Fully®, all rights reserved.

   

HOME - contents - Daily Meditations - abundance - acceptance - achievement - action - adversity - advertising - aging - ambition
anger - anticipation - anxiety - apathy - appreciation - arrogance - art - attitude - authenticity - awakening - awareness - awe
balance - beauty - being yourself - beliefs - body - brooding - busyness - caring - celebration - challenges -
change - character
charity - children - choices - Christianity - coincidence - commitment - common sense - community - comparison - compassion
competition - complaining - compliments - compromise - confidence - conformity - conscience - contentment - control - cooperation
courage - covetousness - creativity - crisis - criticism - cruelty -  death - decisions - desire - determination - disappointment
discipline - discouragement - diversity - doubt - dreams - earth - education - ego - emotions - encouragement - enlightenment
enthusiasm - envy - eternity - ethics - example - exercise - experience - failure - faith - fame - family - fate - fathers - fault-finding
fear - feelings - finances - flowers - forgiveness - freedom - friendship - frustration - fun - the future - garden of life - gardening
generosity - gentleness - giving - goals - God - goodness - grace - gratitude - greatness - greed - grief - growing up - guilt - habit
happiness - hatred - healing - health - heart - helpfulness - home - honesty - hope - hospitality - humility - hurry - ideals - identity
idleness  - idolatry - ignorance - illusion - imagination - impatience - individuality - the inner child - inspiration - integrity - intimacy
introspection - intuition - jealousy - journey of life - joy - judgment - karma - kindness - knowledge - language - laughter - laziness
leadership - learning - letting go - life - listening - loneliness - love - lying - magic - marriage - materialism - meanness - meditation
mindfulness - miracles - mistakes - mistrust - moderation - money - mothers - motivation - music - mystery - nature - negative attitude
now - oneness - open-mindedness - opportunity - optimism - pain - parenting - passion - the past - patience - peace - perfectionism
perseverance - perspective - pessimism - play - poetry - positive thoughts - possessions - potential - poverty - power - praise
prayer
- prejudice - pride - principle - problems - progress - prosperity - purpose - reading -recreation - reflection - relationships
religion - reputation - resentment - respect - responsibility - rest - revenge - risk - role models - running - ruts - sadness - safety
seasons of life - self - self-love - self-pity - self-reliance - self-respect selfishness - serving others - shame - silence - simplicity
slowing down - smiles -solitude - sorrow - spirit - stories - strength - stress - stupidity - success - suffering - talent
the tapestry of life - teachers - thoughts - time - today - tolerance - traditions - trees - trust - truth - unfulfilled dreams - values
vanity - virtue - vulnerability - walking - war - wealth - weight issues - wisdom - women - wonder - work - worry - worship
youth - spring - summer - fall - winter - Christmas - Thanksgiving - New Year - America - Zen sayings - articles & excerpts
Native American wisdom - The Law of Attraction - obstacles to living life fully - e-zine archives - quotations contents
our most recent e-zine - Great Thinkers - the people behind the words

  

We have some inspiring and motivational books that may interest you.  Our main way of supporting this site is through the sale of books, either physical copies or digital copies for your Amazon Kindle (including the online reader).  All of the money that we earn through them comes back to the site in one way or another.  Just click on the picture to the left to visit our page of books, both fiction and non-fiction!

   

     
    

Quotations for Living Life Fully
If you want to have many of the quotations that you find here on our pages to take with you wherever you go, whenever you go there, our collection of quotations--over 3800 of them--is available for the Kindle for just 99 cents!  (It's available only on the Kindle because the price would end up being far too high for a print copy.)  Some of the wisest words that you will ever read, all organized by topic and ready to provide you with encouragement, motivation, and reinforcement.  This may be the best dollar you ever spend!