I cannot imagine that there is a single person alive today who has not doubted themselves at least once in their lives.  We all know the feeling.  It grows in our stomach, a lead weight that sinks us.  It is a bomb that destroys our strongest convictions.  Worst of all, it is a poison that kills our most beautiful dreams.

Getting accepted into our dream college.  Making the school track team.  Becoming an astronaut.  I think we all have dreams such as these at some point in our lives.  But oftentimes these same ambitions come with an unwelcome friend:  doubting ourselves.  We may have the best grades or a stellar mile time, yet we question our own capabilities.  Sometimes this causes us to give up before we even have time to fail.

When I was a high school freshman, I wanted to start a club that would bring attention to underappreciated extracurriculars through a school news website.  I had no clue where to start.  Asking my guidance counselors for help was bad enough.  The worst part was meeting with the principal about the proposal of the club.  I was terrified.  I felt unprepared and over my head.  I doubted myself.  I never did start that club.

I do not regret it since it gave me the time to focus my energy and succeed in the other clubs I was already involved in.  But I still have dreams much greater than a high school club that have yet to be achieved.  What if I doubt myself in the same way that I did before.  Will I still be free of regret?

I want to be a veterinarian.  I know that it will require an extra four years of school after Penn State, not to mention the stressful process of applications and interviews.  And to even be a competitive candidate I must complete hundreds of hours shadowing a veterinarian.  Even writing about all of it creates a pit in my stomach and fear that I will not be good enough.

That is what doubt is:  fear that we cannot obtain our heart’s desires.  But what I think I fear even more is not trying.  Some may say that a person cannot fail if they do not try in the first place.  But I believe that is a failure in itself because we failed to believe in our strength.

When I feel doubt, I remind myself of all I have achieved and what it took to get that far.  If I can believe in myself once, I can do it again.