The Gift of Doubt

I have always liked thinking about hope and doubt as two very powerful and dangerous human intuitions. As future oriented beings, we constantly project our past and present into predictions of eventual outcomes as we must, but the particular emotive force of these two feelings has always been fascinating to me. Hope is usually discussed as the positive feeling and doubt as the negative, but I would argue the opposite. Regardless of the discomfort which may arise from doubt, it is usually experienced as the presentation of an opportunity. In that opportunity we sense danger, perhaps for the outcome of an uncertain situation, but often because that doubt may lead to a question. Questions, properly asked, always include the potential for a negative response. Even questions as fundamental as: 'do I exist', when asked in earnest, must allow for the possible 'no' response and therefore a complete negation of self, otherwise they are not questions at all; and what is the impetus for the question? Doubt. Doubt leads the way in every area of discovery and lies at the base of every climb toward Truth. Doubt is the mother of humility, of learning, of self-discovery, and of progress. Those who fervently hope need do nothing. Those who doubt must act. So it is a gift, albeit an uncomfortable gift, which comes as an opportunity, and those who dread it fear most the product of its pursuit: change.