“Just Say NO to Doubt” in 2011!

James 1:6 “But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the the wind.”  

One of my favorite quotes is “any belief worth having, must survive doubt.”  

In most anything we do, how we handle our doubt makes a huge difference in how well we execute in our various roles in life.  Doubt is a manifestion of the other “F” word; fear (see 10/29/10 blog) and is a place the devil loves us to go…and stay.  

During this time of year, 32 years ago, an epiphany took place in my life.  I was in my second year of playing college basketball and had gone from sixth man to last man.  Doubt had swept in and was on the verge of making me believe there was no use in continuing my basketball career.  A talk with my brother and coaches steered me away from quitting and I am so thankful because I would have missed out on an unbelievable career that included several team and individual accomplishments as well many important life lessons.  

When I made the decision to not quit I took a couple of days to take a look at what was really happening and why I had lost belief in my abilities to play basketball.    

I realized I let other people and my circumstances determine the quality of my play.  I was worrying about things I had no control over.  I was constantly comparing myself to my teammates.  I was constantly wanting something handed to me that I thought I was “entitled” to, (i.e. playing time).  I thought the coach didn’t like me.  I thought I wasn’t being treated fairly.  I probably had a dozen different excuses and thoughts I was constantly mulling over in my head and the fact of the matter was all of these thoughts had snuffed my belief of me and my abilities right out of me.  My play was dominated with doubt instead of confidence and because of all of this “stinking thinking,” doubt was about to take something I dearly loved away from me.  

Now here I am over 3 decades later blogging about what I now know is the devil’s best friend; doubt.  The devil loves to see us fail especially if it is because we’ve quit believing in our God-given gifts.  Doubt is nothing more than a self-imposed jail cell and when left unbridled will lead to a life of inaction…right where the devil wants us to be.  

The reason I came up with my P.E.A.C.E. acrostic years ago was to help me combat doubt.  Submitting your Plans to God while putting forth positive Effort and Attitude and seeking guidance from positive mentors from the Community around you, coupled with nourishing your mind and body with “good stuff” is a great way of eliminating negative and wasteful thoughts and in turn minimizing doubt while maximizing your confidence.  Each plan you achieve is just another milestone you’ve placed between you and your tendencies to doubt.  

Make 2011 the year of “Just Say No to Doubt.”  Make up your mind to stop letting other people and circumstances determine your “play.”  “Just say No” to the thoughts that bring on doubt (i.e. comparing yourself to others, blaming others for your lot in life, lusting after the gifts of others, thinking life is supposed to be fair, making excuses), and make up your mind to take control of what you can control and start P.E.A.C.E.ING your life together one plan at a time.   

I have no idea where I would be today if I would have allowed doubt to defeat me back in late 1978.  Obviously I wouldn’t be writing this blog but more importantly I know of two pictures that would not be on display in my office:   

One is a picture of my college basketball team from Ohio Northern University that defeated the University of Oklahoma at Oklahoma in 1980.  The other is a picture of me and my teammates celebrating by cutting down the nets after beating Northern Arizona and Portland University on back-to-back nights to win the Casaba Club Classic at the University of Pacific in 1981.   

For those of you that don’t understand the significance of these victories;  Ohio Northern is a small Division III school that does not give athletic scholarships whereas Oklahoma, Northern Arizona and Portland University are all Division I schools that give athletic scholarships to their players.   These three victories were huge “upsets” and made national news.   These victories and the players on these teams are forever etched in the folklore of ONU basketball conversations.  And to think I almost let doubt prevent me from experiencing these victories… 

30 years ago...a bunch of misfits with alot of belief and no doubts...

Don’t let doubt prevent you from celebrating the victories God has in store for you this year…Just Say No to Doubt!  

Happy New Year!  

jay@eaglelaunch.com