5 reasons why it's okay to be a Doubting Thomas

For those of us not familiar with Thomas, well, it would suffice, at the moment, to just say that he was one of Jesus's disciples. The rest of the details and how he came to be doubting Thomas can be found in the Bible, or Google.

It's not too difficult to understand the nature of that name. Thomas was a doubting person. But the faculty of doubt has been given a bad name in mainstream consciousness. We're not really comfortable telling people that we doubt their theories and ideas for the fear of being judged as a judgmental person. But what's wrong with being judgmental? How can we protect ourselves (mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually) if we let ourselves be vulnerable in the name of politeness or (upmarket) indifference?

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The world we live in does very little to keep up a good reputation. Everywhere we turn, we find corruption, lies, deceit, obnoxious power-play, stress, and an overall imbalance in Man's relationship with himself and the world. In this scenario, it's only right to question the meaningless status quos. Be it from the hands of science, or be it off the hands of religion, knowledge coming from any external source need to be looked into with great care and healthy scepticism.

Here are three reasons why having a doubtful mind is good for you:

It's a sign of alertness

The trouble with the act of doubting is that we have become conditioned to use this faculty only when we find ourselves in unknown, uncertain situations. We will, more often than not, doubt a stranger even if he speaks the truth. But we will, more often than not, believe a lie if it's spoken by someone whom we know, say, our mothers. We've grown comfortably numb over the little everyday incomprehension’s that we ignore every single day. Soon they become a big, ugly cobweb of doubt that gets safely tucked away, in the vault of unconsciousness, to be ignored for the rest of our lives. It's rather strange that most of us still don't doubt the real (true) nature of the many established theories and beliefs that time and again prove themselves to be absolutely inefficient in creating and sustaining peace and harmony, both inside of man and outside of him. If you're an odd one out there who finds it absolutely necessary to cross check every statement that comes your way, cheers! Your mind is alert.

It's a sign of having a desire to grow

One is never caught up in doubt. True doubting relentlessly seeks answers. Perpetual doubt is a sign of inaction and laziness. True doubting asks the right questions. And, the right answer is just the right question away. We're the sum of the information we have of the world. We are what we know. How much we know is the true mark of growth. To grow, you need to know. And to know, you need to ask questions.

It's a sign of being alive

Doubting is a proof of life. Those which are dead don't doubt. An average four year old may or may not ask 473 questions a day. But if you're an alive and kicking participating member of the economy, it's only right to ask questions, and ask the right ones.

Half the things done in this world are to make things appear what they're really not, goes a saying. To make sure we're not taken for a ride, we all need healthy dose of doubt in our lives.