The relationship between commitment and doubt is by no means an

The words of Rollo May—“The relationship between commitment and doubt is by no means an antagonistic one. Commitment is healthiest when it’s not without doubt but in spite of doubt”—carry the weight of paradox, a wisdom the ancients themselves would have revered. They teach that strength is not the absence of uncertainty, but the courage to move forward even while uncertainty lingers.

The old philosophers knew that every great endeavor, whether love, art, or war, was born in the presence of doubt. The sailor who crossed unknown seas, the warrior who entered battle, the lover who pledged fidelity—all felt the tremor of uncertainty. Yet they pressed on, and it was this pressing on, not the absence of fear, that gave their commitment power. To act with certainty alone is ease; to act in spite of uncertainty is heroism.

May reveals that doubt is not the enemy of commitment, but its companion and teacher. For in questioning, we refine our purpose; in hesitation, we measure the depth of our resolve. Without doubt, commitment becomes blind stubbornness, brittle and unexamined. But when forged in the fire of doubt, commitment becomes living, dynamic, resilient—able to bend and yet not break.

This is a truth of relationships, of vocations, of life itself: fidelity does not arise from perfection, but from the will to remain steadfast amidst imperfection. The ancients would have called this the path of virtue—not the easy road of unwavering confidence, but the difficult, noble path of choosing again and again to remain devoted, even when shadows fall across the heart.

So let this teaching endure: do not despise your doubts, for they are the whetstone that sharpens your commitments. To love, to create, to believe, while acknowledging uncertainty, is the mark of true strength. For it is not in the absence of storms that loyalty shines, but in the decision to hold fast even as the winds rage.