Who Are You Going to Believe?
“Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage.”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
I’ve got some great ideas, of this I’m sure. I’m a strong, confident woman with a keen intuitive sense of what is needed in various situations. I totally trust my gut — I don’t think it’s ever steered me wrong. And yet, I find myself questioning what I know from time to time. It’s so bizarre. And then, when I read the above quote by Emerson I realized that this sort of questioning probably happens more often than I care to admit, and that I’ve absolutely had to be courageous to do some of the things I’ve chosen to do — like start my own company.
This whole idea — the idea that following the path that you carve out for yourself will be met with resistance and therefore requires courage – feels novel somehow. And wrong. I guess what feels wrong specifically is the idea that we question each other and our choices. What’s funny, as I sit with this, is that I think we only question our own choices when someone else questions them first.
So now, the question that’s coming up for me is this: is the self-doubt a bad thing? The introspection that has you evaluate from time to time? My intuitive answer is “nope.” I don’t think the introspection is wrong — until and unless it takes you right off your path. I think there’s a way that you’ve got to hold both — the possibility that you’re wrong along with the belief that you’re right. And then there’s the third thing to hold, which is the willingness to change or modify your plans if in fact you are wrong in some way. Weird.
I guess the bottom-line realization for me this morning is this: I am willing to entertain the doubts, whether mine or someone else’s for a brief time. After that, however, unless something has radically changed, I’m going to believe and trust my intuition and follow the path that I believe to be right for me. This is an ability I’ve developed, the ability to know what needs to be done. It may not look or feel right to you; it may not be what you would choose; and that’s okay. I’ll trust that you know your path, and I know mine and all will be good.
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