DON’T DOUBT, BELIEVE

 by Carmel Rowley

We live in an incredible country, and as I approach the imminent publishing of yet another book I remain amazed, firstly, at achieving all my goals as Arabian horse breeder but somehow managing to write an eighth  novel. I realise, if you decide to put your heart, soul and determination into something you can pretty much be or do anything you choose. Sadly, there are still many who allow their chances to slide by, whether it’s due to fear of failure or even taking the opinions of others to heart. 

I know it’s hard to sort out what to believe but when I look back at the decades of breeding Arabian horses and then my years of writing there were many vocal, doubting Thomas’s. Sure, I had to constantly squash any self-doubt but for some reason I ploughed on. I also knew that if I wanted to achieve my goals I had to take chances and believe in my decisions and choices.

If something is a fact, do you immediately believe it?

By its absence; can doubt be an important factor to learn and believe in something. In both breeding and writing I realised it was best not to allow other people to tell me what can and can’t be done. I observed so many people buying into the doubt of other peoples doubts and decisions, which in turn sees the belief in yourself begin to wane.
I know these emotions well, in the early days of breeding horses and writing I was naïve in a type of positive way. I know now that I really didn’t understand what I was up against. However, I did know the type of horse I wanted to breed and when writing became a focus, I did know it would be really, really difficult to find out what I needed to know. Knowledge given by some has a price. However, one thing I did believe in was my determination to write about and remind people of  the wonder of the horse breeding journey. But, I also felt the importance of reminding breeders of the now un-right-able wrongs.

These days I look back at the advantage of being young? At the time, I simply acted and believed I could re-invent a wheel to work for me. Now, after over forty years of breeding horses and twenty years of slogging over eight novels, countless articles and short stories I realise I may not have evolved the way I did had I not believed I could do things in my own way. Doubt hovered but most times I managed to squash it down.

I feel doubt can drive us forward, but too much doubt can lead to uncertainty, by not understanding its significance. The last thing you want to do is give doubt more power than belief.

But there’s one important aspect to doubt.  The benefit of doubt is fundamental to our goodness and integrity. Though sometimes it may be hard to keep up your hopes and feel confident, it’s simple to slip into the everything’s too hard mode. Of course, that’s the time to realise, what your doing and remember all you’ve achieved.

     Always believe in your talent and capabilities.

A strong sense of faith and self-confidence are enough to turn  any negative situation in a positive one. So be yourself and keep moving forward with a positive attitude. As Bob Marley said – The system is to bring you down, but you can rise up. You just have to believe in yourself. And, I say have a go.

“They will always tell you that you can’t do what you want to do, but you can do what you want to do. You just have to believe in yourself. The system is to bring you down, but you can rise up.”
? Bob Marley