Gratitude as the antidote to doubt

I got my favorite bathrobe for a wedding present ten years ago. It is white, fluffy, huge, and cozy. Unfortunately, it now has a hole in the left pocket after years of use, and I forget it’s there.

When I wake up in the morning to come downstairs, I often put on the bathrobe, forgetting the hole is there, and then the phone falls straight out my pocket, slamming loudly on the floor. It scares me every time, and I am unsure how my phone has not broken yet. This hole in my bathrobe pocket is a lot like doubt, allowing the thing I want to carry with me to disappear faster than I can do anything about it.

When we spend time doubting, all of our excellent work slips away, especially in our relationship with ourselves, when we think, I shouldn’t have done that, about a courageous and wise move that didn’t go as planned. Or, when we believe, I don’t deserve to do that thing because someone else would be better, about something would fulfill us so much. This doubt is dangerous because it drains us of all of our trust, faith, and joy.

The stitch to fix the hole is gratitude. When we notice doubt has robbed us of our self-esteem and appreciation of our highest selves, our practice is to be grateful instead. By shining gratitude on the gifts of our intuition, inner guidance, strength, and wholeness, we amplify them, making them more valuable to ourselves and others.

Our human minds cannot understand the bigger picture right now. Tapping into the present moment's gifts, even when there are “failures” and challenges, connects us to our innate power so we can navigate our lives with resilience and ease.