Card of the Month, August 2013
Demon Red Rainbow*
Insecurity
 
      What do you do when you have a good idea but it’s bringing up self doubt? There’s something you want, but a variety of little voices, not always of the positive kind,  start conversing in your brain. There’s a change you want to make in your life but those voices want to dissuade you—not a good idea, too hard to get started, actually kind of stupid, and by the way, you must be pretty stupid too.
      The fable of Demon Red Rainbow sends a
profound message and helps us think about some pretty tough questions about the way we handle the ubiquitous “rainbow” of insecurities we all experience.  It’s the story of inventor Bob McMullen, and what he has invented Is pretty special: a  vaccine that could eliminate
fear.
      
No fear? How wonderful would that be?

 But with surprising speed, Bob’s initial excitement turns to doubt after he has been visited---or should we say invaded--by Demon Red Rainbow, who wants to put bob  back in his place:
      
“What do you think you're doing here? This is rubbish! It's dumb, just throw it away!" 

And, quickly,  the Demon was starting to
have bob pretty convinced.
      
He was ready to throw in the towel, even on a potentially life changing  until a dream an a reminder from the Grea Servant turned the tide.
     
"I still feel fear!" 

But the value of the vaccine isn’t exactly what you think.  It might not eliminate fear but perhaps it does something even more important.      “It allows one to function when they are afraid," the Great One said.”
      
What a profound reminder.  
       
We might, as is pretty common,  have doubts—anxieties, insecurities, fears—so many we don’t have names for them?—but how do we handle them?  Invalidate them?    Get frustrated so our good ideas don’t going traction?    Recognize the fear for the sometimes important internal voice it can be?
      
In this regard, the Great Servant offered some final thoughts for Bob:
      
“It is you who must distinguish between the real and the imagined. If your inner device senses fear, the action is up to you." 
       
Great insight and one with the potential to turn feelings of insecurity into the power of choice.

So, at bottom, it’s about recognizing the self doubts, taking the not so easy steps of confronting them, and, above all, as they say, feeling  the fear and doing  it anyway.
 
*Quotes and the fable are from the tori Hartman book.