individual who attempts to destroy self-confidence and raise doubts in the minds of others
ya-but, how much of it is really "attempts to destroy self-confidence" on the part of individuals and how much of it is more simply a fragile (if blossoming) sense of self-confidence on our own part? I mean, is there a point at which we quit crying "wolf" every time someone unintentionally triggers a specific, heart-felt fear of ours and take some accountability ourselves for which doubts we let get to us and why and which doubts we ignore, recognizing that we're not the only ones with fears, taking some baby steps towards facing ours however gradually, however awkwardly, continually getting up every time we fall on our ya-but until we are actually vested with having earned some walking confidence? it seems (to me) healthy and prudent to doubt ourselves to some extent and allow time for evidence to accumulate in support of our intuitive instincts before we start alienating ourself completely from others. Otherwise, what is the point of having the capacity to doubt anyways?
and just for fair measure, I'm gonna ya-but my own self here and say that all that said, I know first-hand how scary it can be to face fears and experience doubts about beliefs we've tended to cling to with grave seriousness as though our very lives depend upon it and that a little kindness goes a long way! :) There is a quip I recall that goes something like: 'Be kind, everyone you meet is in the fight of their lives.'
I also saw a neat sign once that read: Warning: Do not believe everything you think. :) Coming myself from a religion that thinks it knows everything that the rest of the world doesn't, it's taken me a long time to deeply understand that one but my extensive experience at having been dead-wrong numerous times in my life along with a bit of exposure to the law enforcement industry has been slowly but surely been demonstrating to me the value of patiently balancing my own instincts with evidence in navigating epic battles discerning between two very distinguished foes, fact and fable.
A wise woman I once sought for advice said: If it's too much, go even slower. :)
I liked that. It's sooo different than the JW philosophy we each had beaten into our heads of "ya-but you should be doing even more, more, more".
Great thread, Berean, thanks for starting it. I hope my reply doesn't drive ya too nutty. If so, feel free to ignore or attack, I don't offend easily. On a more light-hearted side-note, every time I see your screenname, I'm always like, damn, I forget who the Berean was again. Then I think maybe that's a good thing because it means I've been out of the dubs long enough to forget some stuff. Then again I think, ya-but maybe the information would come in handy, so maybe I'll look it up or bug The Berean to remind me. :o) Chau for now ....
