How do you cope with doubt?

So, you do have a high paying job, which is great, but you might possibly lose it which is not so great. If you lose it, logically you will look for a new job. Anybody who has previously held a high paying job will be regarded by employers as having at least some qualifications to have another high paying job. People who have never had a high paying job usually have a harder time to break in to the high paying job market.

Nothing is ever guaranteed (except the proverbial death and taxes) in this world, not for religious people and not for atheists. Being an atheist is (unfortunately) not a guarantee of having a happy and successful life, any more than, for example, being a non-smoker will guarantee that you are in good health. It is, however, true that smoking cigarettes is a serious health risk, and believing in a religion is a logical error which can result in serious complications to your life. If you can be an atheist and a non-smoker, you have certain advantages. But you do not have guarantees.

So, what do you do? All we can do is to try to live happy and productive lives. Even if we fail to do so, we should make a reasonable attempt. That is all we can do. The best reason to face life with courage is that you would not solve anything by facing life with cowardice. Life is kind of a sink or swim situation. If you find yourself to be in a lake (regardless of how you got there) you can either swim to the shore, or drown; the choice is up to you. You do not really have the luxury of saying while in the lake, I am not confident in my swimming ability, I never learned how to do the Australian Crawl, I am not that fond of swimming anyway, I want someone to come by in a boat and pick me up. Not that it is impossible that someone will come along and pick you up, but if you don't see a boat heading in your direction, it would be foolish not to swim - even if your technique is sloppy. It's not an Olympic swimming competition, it's what you have to do in order not to drown.

If you are looking for some kind of psycological device, I can suggest that you observe that there are lots of incompetent people in this world (I am sure you have met many of them, since we all do) and they generally survive anyway. If they can survive, you have a pretty good chance. And if you don't survive, at least you tried. In the words of Eric Idle, always look on the bright side of life.

/r/atheism Thread