Overcoming the Ice Dragon of Self-Doubt
In every work of genius, we recognize our own rejected thoughts; they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty. — Ralph Waldo Emerson
How many of your dreams and aspirations lie frozen under the petrifying breath of the Ice Dragon of Self-Doubt?
Stillborn by fear of failure.
Shelved under “I can’t do this.” “I’m no good at…” “What will people think of me?” or “I don’t have the time.”
The most regretful people on earth, said poet Mary Oliver, are those who felt the call to creative work, and gave it neither power nor time.
Why do we do it?
Fear is an adaptive response, an ancient survival instinct untouched by the effects of modern civilization.
To prove it, Charles Darwin, who never experienced the bite of a poisonous snake, went to the reptile house at the London Zoological Gardens. Trying to remain calm, he stood as close to the glass as possible while a venomous viper lunged at him on the other side. Every time it happened, Darwin grimaced and recoiled. In his diary, he writes, “My will and reason were powerless against the imagination of a danger which had never been experienced.”
