“To believe is to be strong. Doubt cramps energy. Belief is power.”

I heard this quote while watching the tv documentary “Into the Storm” recently on the airplane. It was a drama about Winston Churchill. This quote was said by Roosevelt and he attributed it to Dr. Peabody. The quote really captured my attention and I stopped the movie and wrote it down so I wouldn’t forget the wording. It is a strong concept and explains how we can become frozen when we don’t believe in ourselves.

“Doubt cramps energy” That is so true, we travel on a merry go round of second guessing ourselves and wasting energy on doubt when we could be spending that same energy on moving forward. Taking chances. Learning from failures. Take the chance and paint wildly. Put those paintings online. Ask the gallery for a show. It all takes the willingness to believe in yourself.

If we are caught in that doubt, we can break free by asking the question “what is the worse that could happen?”. This can diffuse doubt if combined with the ability to laugh at yourself. The worse that could happen is you realize the painting is a failure. Or you regret that you don’t like the painting after having it online. So what? Take it down. It might have inspired someone else to do a painting. Some good could have come from your willingness to show it to the world.

I like to encourage people to paint. It gives you the gift of really seeing and experiencing the world around you. You benefit from the experience even if the painting is a failure. Keep painting and the quality will improve. If you ignore the doubt and believe in yourself, your brushstroke will be stronger, your color choices will be more daring. Believe!