I'm having trouble feeling certain about anything

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BenSinner

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I’m having alot of anxiety and it isn’t going away.

The reason I’m anxious is because I can’t feel certain of anything. I can use logic to prove certainty exists, but I can’t feel certainty…which has been causing me to feel great anxiety.

So basically my rationale is, no matter how much I prove certainty with logic and reason, if I don’t feel it, then it doesn’t exist.

Any help on this matter to get rid of this uncertain feeling would be greatly apppreciated.
 
If we keep getting chances to begin again in big or little ways, we can be certain that we are loved by God.

After that, nothing else rises to that level. So, why waste energy worrying/thinking about these lesser matters?

Don’t use “feelings” for your certainty…they bark all the time in different directions, sometimes in both directions at the same time.

Use observation. We begin each morning and we can be a tiny bit better tomorrow, at least we can begin with our attitude, small betterments.

Work on one human virtue for 2 weeks. “I want to have more gratitude in my voice, help me in this work, God”.

Or if you don’t want to have more gratitude…start like this “Father, I ‘want to want to’ have more gratitude…help me”
 
BenSinner said:
The reason I’m anxious is because I can’t feel certain of anything. I can use logic to prove certainty exists, but I can’t feel certainty…which has been causing me to feel great anxiety.
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For what it’s worth many if us act with less than 100% certainty. That’s life. We form the best hypothesis that we can about what’s going on around us and we act on that. We can’t be 100% certain about everything (or arguably about anything).
 
ThinkingSapien said:
For what it’s worth many if us act with less than 100% certainty. That’s life. We form the best hypothesis that we can about what’s going on around us and we act on that. We can’t be 100% certain about everything (or arguably about anything).
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Very true. Peace comes with letting go of the need to be certain or in control. In fact surrendering in faith to God’s providence, while it sometimes requires great trust, is the only thing that brings a true peace.
 
BenSinner said:
I’m having alot of anxiety and it isn’t going away.

The reason I’m anxious is because I can’t feel certain of anything. I can use logic to prove certainty exists, but I can’t feel certainty…which has been causing me to feel great anxiety.

So basically my rationale is, no matter how much I prove certainty with logic and reason, if I don’t feel it, then it doesn’t exist.

Any help on this matter to get rid of this uncertain feeling would be greatly apppreciated.
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One day I had to do a change in my organization, and a colleague of mine (whose cooperation I needed) asked me: “Are you 100% sure of it?”. I reflected a little bit and responded to him: “hundred percent? I have never been hundred percent sure about anything I have done in my whole life? Isn’t 33% or 35% enough to you?”

However, I was determined to do it. That is something different. I see that you are intelligent, and consistent in a certain way. I wonder if it is not lack of determination, instead of uncertainty, what you suffer.
 
“I can’t be certain of anything.”

that statement in itself would be something I’m certain of. So logically I have proven that there are things I can know with certainty.

But I don’t feel that certainty, which is why I don’t understand why I can’t get over this.
 
So things aren’t true to you unless you feel it?

Alright, let me help.

Punch yourself in the leg.

Did you feel something?

Get up, go to the nearest wall, and put your hand against it.
Feel it? Try walking through it.
Can you? Does it feel like something is there?

What are you reading?

Be at peace
 
BenSinner said:
“I can’t be certain of anything.”

that statement in itself would be something I’m certain of. So logically I have proven that there are things I can know with certainty.

But I don’t feel that certainty, which is why I don’t understand why I can’t get over this.
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To be certain about something, from an intellectual perspective, is to be able to talk about our foundations. You are able to do it, don’t you? There is no other feeling involved. Don’t you feel that you can explain why you state something?
 
Hi Ben,
The disciples, you recall, were never certain about much of what Jesus was teaching or explaining; - remember how he explained to us about eating his flesh and drinking his blood to have life, eternal life, in us, and how he intended to raise us all on the last day? And so many of the crowd walked away…
Our only certainty on that day was Jesus - he asked us if we would leave also. And Peter, speaking for us, yet not certain about Jesus’ meaning of eating his flesh and drinking his blood, - Peter, said for us, “Lord, to whom would we go? … You have the words of eternal life.”
Peter never felt any certainty about understanding, but he did want to remain with Jesus, even in the midst of uncertainty - he stayed close to Jesus in the courtyard while denying him in his “feelings of uncertainty”.
His feelings were for Jesus - not for his understanding. (By the way, Jesus was very happy that Peter and the rest of us wanted to be with him in spite of not really knowing or understanding him.)
Merry Christmas!
John

BTW: “feelings of certainty” are actually like expressions of surprise that “something is true”. For instance, when I was about finished reading Part One of Thomas’ Summa Theologica, I found myself exclaiming with a smile, “Angels really are real!” And when I found myself a couple years ago beginning to understand the Virtues (infused), I found myself asserting to myself while driving to work, “I am driving virtuously to work today”, in a kind of surprised understanding that it was really happening.
Feelings of certainty surprise you when they appear. And basically they appear when the knowing impacts your activities, via your “will”, which has to do with “feeling” - your will moves your material being, to feeling, your will is “feeling” or “leaning toward”.
 
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Anxiety is a medical/psychological condition. No philosophy can help, except that which advises you to speak with your doctor about this.
 
You are thinking too much about these worrying thoughts. When these thoughts can’t do anything for you. Neither can they answer your questions about them. So you go round and round thinking about them in vein. This is what is causing your anxiety.

So what if you can’t be absolutely sure about everything? Why does that matter? Can that thought hurt you? It is only words, letters in the alphabet. Can letters hurt you? Faith is believing in something for which you have enough reasons and evidence to believe. It is not the same as knowing something in the formal sense where you can directly observe something to be true. If we could directly observe everything we wouldn’t need faith. Even scientists have faith in the scientific method and in other scientists’ experiments since no one can do everything themselves. So we have to believe in the word of others. Does a scientist say I must feel this evidence before I can believe it? No one can live as an absolute skeptic. You would not be able to even leave your house.

Jesus said fear is useless, what is needed is trust. Does Jesus mean all fear is useless. I don’t think so. There is fear that is useful. For instance the kind of fear that keeps you alive when you are driving on a dangerous road. However the kind of fear that is useless is the kind that keeps us trapped into worrying about the same thought over and over. So we spin our figurative wheels round and round going nowhere. This is why it is useless. This is where we can choose to trust in something greater than ourselves, where we can trust in Jesus instead.

Consider going to a Bible study at your church. Too much philosophy is not a good thing. Even too much thinking about religion is a bad thing. You need to make room for getting to know our Lord. We need to make time for God in devotional prayer every day and in meditation on Scripture. Pray the rosary every day.


“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.” (Phil 4:8)
 
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Maybe if you see the beautiful architecture of a beautiful cathedral it will fortify your Faith.
 
I feel quite certain of a much higher intelligence and I believe it’s God but I cannot be certain. Outside of that, I do not feel certain about anything, especially the mass media which controls our beliefs, attitudes, and values much more than most people realize.
 
I heard a great homily once where the priest, who was a great speaker, said that “certainty” is the opposite of Faith and Faith is the greater gift. That really helped me a lot in my life. I am not talking about blind faith, but true, deep Faith. I try to let go of needing to be certain about things. One saying I really like is, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.” There is so little we can be absolutely certain of. Fortunately we have God and so we don’t need to.
 
BenSinner said:
I’m having alot of anxiety and it isn’t going away.

The reason I’m anxious is because I can’t feel certain of anything. I can use logic to prove certainty exists, but I can’t feel certainty…which has been causing me to feel great anxiety.

So basically my rationale is, no matter how much I prove certainty with logic and reason, if I don’t feel it, then it doesn’t exist.

Any help on this matter to get rid of this uncertain feeling would be greatly apppreciated.
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Well, the only certainty that we have is that experience exist.
 
Uncertainty leads to certainty in matters of faith when you find answers to the questions that make you uncertain. What I mean is, when the answers to questions that cause uncertainty satisfy reason, and that happens eneogh times, eventually not understanding something or not knowing how it can be true, no longer causes the anxiety about the faith. They become something exciting even. They become an invitation to a deeper understanding, a mystery to explore. Because in your experience they are so often answered that you trust they do have answers that stand to reason.
 
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