The Swamp of Doubts

That dreadful step between what is and what could be. The step away from what is know, the beaten path, into the realm of possibilities, of uncertainty. It is the place we must go, to achieve what we always wanted, the path one needs to traverse to become one’s full potential. So what’s stands in between, why is it so damn hard?

The answer is the swamp of doubts.

It is a place all is familiar with; it is the thoughts of the mind telling us to go back, that we are certain to fail. It is the place of disconsering words; you are not supposed to walk that path, it is not meant to be, you should head back. It is the place of failed dreams; She doesn’t really like me, i am not talented enough to succeed, i will be ridiculed. Each step into the swamp only intensifies the hooks of doubt, pulling you ever slightly towards the bottom. In this moment, you but three options:

The rational mind will try to convince you to go back, and why wouldn’t you. Go back to the familiar warmth, to the daily routine you have mastered, the day that will always be, but will never be enough. Who could blame anyone for going back, it is not like anything is a certainty, so why not cling onto what is know? Because it is a lie, at any moment it could disappear, then what? The beam of support that ones kept you afloud, gone. The water pours, but can you swim? Always pursue the version of you that will be stronger than today.

You can stand still, and in the face of ultimate uncertainty, who wouldn’t? If nothing is what it is supposed to be, if nothing is what it was, and nothing is what it could, then what should one do? The swamp of doubts have claimed many victims, all who shared the same problem; Lack of conviction. If you are not willing to throw away everything to achieve the goals of your dreams, then you will never succeed. Always held back by what is safe, what is known.

The final option, is to keep moving towards, to keep crawling through the mud, inch by inch. Why? Suffer the consequence of everything for no certainties? Why throw away everything for potentially nothing? Because it is true, because of the conviction, that not only one has the ability to survive the flood of doubt, but that one could thrive. That there is something beyond, something worth the suffering. A place, a home. A place of belonging. No matter what it might be, one must deny the shadows of the mind. Never ignoring them, but staring them right in the eye, saying the all dreadful word: No. No matter what, just keep going. The worst enemy of the hero, is the mind beneath the crown.

In the end, there is but one question: Why do anything? Is it because that you should? Maybe. Is it because that you no of nothing else? Perhaps. I say, because you can. As long as you draw breath, why not move towards something better, why strive for something bigger? Why not strive to become the very best that you can be?

That is the antidote to the swamp of doubts, action. To keep moving, to keep denying the devil on the shoulder, to overcome the wall of the mind. Just. Keep. Going.

Onwards Soldier.

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