Yep, the title is correct - I can either exercise or exorcise my doubts. That's pretty much the gist of the whole post, so if you're busy with something else, move on. If not, read on:
Doubt can be a useful thought and or feeling in certain situations, such as when reading that e-mail from a Nigerian prince, when purchasing a used car, or when wondering if you can actually make it thru the intersection in time. So doubt isn't always a bad thing. On the other hand, doubt can be damaging when entertained for very long when it is about the reality of good things happening in my life, or whether or not my Higher Power really does love and support me and have my best interests at heart, or when doubting my own ability to live happily and successfully. Doubt can be damaging in two ways: first, if I've set events in motion to better myself or my situation, sustained doubt about what I've done or what's going to happen really only serve to cause anxiety, which is unhealthy mentally and physically. My entertaining doubt may or may not affect the situation or its outcome, but it will still detract from my enjoyment of life, and may even cause relapse (through the desire to extinguish the anxiety and possibly depression the doubt has caused). Some of my past relapses have been caused by my doubtfulness about my own ability to work a program of recovery. Second, doubting the good that may be coming my way can actually cause me to sabotage it in some way. My doubt may cause me to incessantly check up on the progress of something I've set in motion, like getting a new job, to the point where the prospective employer says, "I'm not hiring this insecure person!" Or if I'm in a new friendship or relationship, and I allow my doubts about that friendship to cause me to, again, incessantly check to see if we're still or really friends, that person with whom I'm hoping to be friends might just say, "I've already got enough crazy in my life - I don't need this guy!" Excessive clinginess and insecurity in a person chases healthy people away. (On the other hand, if red flags turn up, like dishonesty or violence, doubts about the sustainability of a relationship a probably valid). At the very least, doubt can cause me to delay or overlook blessings in my life; at its worst, doubt is deadly. So it behooves me in recovery to learn how to effectively deal with doubtful thoughts.
The first example I'm going to give I wrote about in my recent post titled Faith - A Simple Yet Effective Example. In that post, I described putting my faith in, of all people, an attorney to take care of an old misdemeanor case from 12 years ago. The attorney had sent me our agreement or contract to read and sign, and I got the distinct impression that the bulk of the contract said that any type of interference in my case on my part might jeopardize my case and/or cause my attorney to have to charge me more. My interpretation was that my attorney was saying, "Sit down, shut up, and trust that I know what I'm doing and acting in your best interests." So, while I did have my doubts, I did just that. I allowed the attorney to do his job without my interference or even checking up on things. Things were moving along and I had a court date set for June 14th. So, after at least of month of not hearing anything, on Monday, June 7th, a week before my next court date, I threw caution to the wind and sent him an email and asked for an update. I received an immediate response - it was an automated response saying that he would be out of the office and unavailable until 8am June 14th. Well, shit! I had a lot of doubt after receiving that automated response. Fortunately, I was able to think it through pretty quickly (like maybe an hour). First, it's really pointless to worry - the outcome of this has always been out of my hands. But the idea that I went with that was salve to my addled brain was that he had already struck a deal with the DA and had simply failed to inform me. Because my attorney is part of a law firm, and not just one random attorney, I really didn't have any worries about him absconding with my fee or anything like that. So I was able to set it aside for a week. Then, I get a call Sunday night from my attorney. It went to voicemail because I was at work. I didn't keep the voicemail, but in it he said something about getting with the DA in the morning. I realized that my conclusion, which had kept me calm for a week, was, in fact, erroneous. He did not have it all wrapped up. Still, I rested easily Sunday night because the outcome was still out of my hands either way. There was nothing I could do about it Sunday night - not even calling his boss. So Monday morning rolls around, and I've got off from work because this is my court day, and I'm getting my Chromebook ready to go to trial (one of the good things to come out of the pandemic is the ability to appear for hearings without actually having to go to Las Vegas. In fact, I think that was my only expectation for this whole thing - I sorely did not want to have to go to Las Vegas). So along about 9 a.m. I received a call from my attorney - the DA had decided not to pursue the case - my case was dismissed! I thanked him and went on my merry way. My hope had been that the DA would have dropped the charge from misdemeanor battery to disorderly conduct and given me a small fine. I'm grateful I received a much better deal! So in this example, I dealt with my doubts through prayer (I had prayed and turned it over to my Higher Power, and I've been taught that if I turn something over, I don't want to continually re-pray - that's part of learning Trust), and when doubt did appear, I simply reminded myself that it's out of my hands. All I have to do is see what happens. And that's why I call this a simple example of faith, and releasing doubt, because, in this case, the consequences weren't really very high.
The second example of avoiding doubt is with my new job. Have I written about that yet? Anyway, I applied for a Peer Support Specialist position at West Yavapai Guidance Clinic, and I was offered a position . I let my store director know right away my last day would be July 10th, as I'd be starting my new position July 12th. What I can say about this experience is that there has been a whole lot less doubt than there would have been in the past. There's just something about really having faith that I'm on a good path that doesn't leave a lot of room for doubt. So my acknowledging the good things that are going on in my life and my faith practices over the past 11 months have helped build a lot of self-confidence. I certainly have no doubt that I have what it takes to do the job, and I have no doubt that I will be a good and respected employee. But thoughts of doubt still creep in - will they accept my background check? There might be different standards here than in Wisconsin, where I previously worked in peer support (though I kind of doubt that, seeing what I've seen in Arizona). One thing that I do have a concern about is physical exercise. Physical exercise is a big part of my recovery, but currently, I get a good portion of it from work, where I am very active and have to lift stuff all the time. My new job will be sedentary. I have concerns about whether or not I'll be able to get motivated enough to have my own fitness practice. As a sidenote, a concern is a little different than a doubt - a concern is a foreseeable situation that's asking for a solution. A doubt is more of a thought of, "I can't do this." I can do this, but it's a lifestyle change, and that's challenging. I've already started by including a morning walk around the block in my routine (my block is 1.25 miles (about 2km) long), so that's a good start. I don't know what my new hours will be, but I'm pretty certain my schedule will be more stable than it is in grocery.
Part of my concern about the exercise regime is that in the past I have been unable to consistently perform good self-care habits, other than abstinence from alcohol and going to recovery meetings. However, lately, I've been able to do something for 65 days in a row that is beneficial for me - I've been able to practice mindful meditation every morning. I have an app on my phone that is called "Waking Up" by Sam Harris, and it's been helping me immensely. I had to pay for it after the initial introduction, and it has been well worth it. I'm not going to delve too deeply into it here, but one of the fundamental things I've learned has really helped in the doubt area. In mindful meditation we learn to become highly aware of our thinking. I've learned, for instance that thoughts are really just little bits of energy that have no meaning or power until I give them meaning or power. I've also learned that I, like many others, tend to grab a thought and create a story out of it. Most of the time, the story isn't that happy and includes a lot of drama. But I've learned, for the most part, to let thoughts of doubt appear and leave. And I can do this with other thoughts as well. Mindful meditation breaks thoughts down to their most basic - I'm learning that any meaning and/or judgement I put on a thought can only come when I hang onto that thought for any length of time. So if a thought of doubt comes, I can often acknowledge it and let it go right away, and turn my attention to something else - maybe the next thought. In this way I don't have to wrangle with doubt, or take it to court, or evaluate its validity. Now let me say here that I've not yet experienced such success with all thoughts. For instance, I still wrestle with thoughts of perfectionism at my current job (although that's getting better because I have an end date). But I have great hope that if I continue this practice I will gain better control not over the thoughts, but over my choice in whether or not to entertain certain thoughts that pass through. Certainly if a great idea passes through, I might want to hang onto it and ponder it. But, for the most part, the millions of thoughts coming through actually cloud my experience of the present moment, which is life and all I've really got. I don't want to waste my opportunity to experience life on fruitless thinking.
I can look at my doubts and consider them to be nothing more than objects in my experience. They have no real power nor any real validity. They are just thoughts. They're just thoughts until I hang onto them, and then they become something else. If I hang onto them, they can become prophecy - "This is a nice (relationship, job, opportunity, day - fill in the blank), I'm probably going to screw it up." Yep, good chance of that now! If I let them go, they become like dust in the wind - unrecognizable from other specks of dust in the wind. In fact, I will likely not even remember that a doubt came across my screen. So the title of this piece is really misleading - I'm not performing any religious ritual to cast out doubt; I'm simply working at becoming mindful so I can practice allowing those thoughts that I don't want to entertain to pass on by. All I know is doubt and worry over any situation will not change it for the better, or influence its outcome in any positive way; it can only harm me, and I am choosing ways today to do no harm to myself (or anyone else) while I live this life.
Namasté,
Ken
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