"Oh, and A Grain of Salt, Please."

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“Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt”

William Shakespeare

   Doubt is an unusually subtle sort of fear. It may exist quietly, working its magic over long periods of time but choosing not to show itself in broad daylight for very long indeed. As half of a relationship, it's easy for a person to fall victim to the melodramatic shrill that is doubt, and we may find ourselves looking over our shoulder at the person right in front of us.

   Wrestling against doubt is trust, and with trust lies the strength of humanity. For trust, the antithesis and mortal foe of doubt, is what binds man to man, and has allowed civilization to occur. If you cannot trust your neighbor, then you are doomed to miss out on the chance to know his quality. You'll spend all your time doubting his character, and with your closed-door policy you will securely prevent yourself from making a friend.

   Sometimes we are made a promise, and it rests upon us to decide whether or not the maker of said promise may be trusted. We prognosticate the outcome of the situation, and are inclined to see it either one way or the other. If our best instincts tell us that Joanne will not bring our lawnmower back tomorrow, we will not trust her. We will doubt, and in doubting remain safe. For here lies the virtue of doubt - immunity. If one doubts everything, one can never be misled - or disillusioned. All or nothing - trust or doubt?

   Ethics, however, and philosophical convention teach us to be fair, in deed and in manner, so to be just to ourselves we have to be open to the uncertain as a third option. We can be cautiously daring. It is not impossible to trust safely. If we count on someone, knowing that they may fail us, then we roll the dice, and take what we get. If we cannot be sure how someone feels about us, but we hope they mean everything they say, then we may continue to live alongside them, open to a change of interpersonal climate. What am I saying? Let your feet be planted firm and level upon doubt, and reach for trust as far as you can from where you stand.