fear
A short list of things I am afraid of (in no particular order):
- Stair steps
- The dark
- Car accidents
- Scorpions
- Heights
- Under the bed
- Being abandoned
- Success
- Ridicule
- Half closed doors
- Conflict
- Ice and snow
- Guilt
- Pain
- Anesthesia
- Fame
- Fire
- Cancer
- Alzheimers
- Hell
- Forgetting
- Remembering
Reading this list, you’d think I lived in a fireproof Ranch with no doors and extra fire extinguishers and high powered lamps.
But other than few extreme phobias, I live a relatively sedate life–even without the help of pharmaceuticals.
Some fears are irrational and some can be traced back to a real events. I had a scorpion infestation in my house in Atlanta. Therefore, I don’t care to cohabitate again.
I have been in seven car accidents–many on ice and snow (but never while I was driving. I have always been the passenger.)
I have been known to drug myself with Tylenol PM on New Year’s Day so my husband can drive us home from Michigan without my corresponding anxiety attack.
I didn’t used to be afraid of heights until I had children. But I don’t know why.
The funny thing about fear is that it can’t be rationalized away. I know I shouldn’t be afraid of silly things like half closed doors or guilt trips. But as I walk near the railing, where I can see down over the edge, my knees get weak and I can’t step closer.
Fear results in worry. I used to live in a Ranch house (complete with scorpions) but since moving into a two story house (with stairs), I go to bed every night mentally rehearsing how to get my family out of the house if it caught fire. Today is the 6th anniversary since our move to Ohio, which means I have worried about this for nearly six years now–every night.
But at least there are no scorpions in Ohio.
What is the craziest thing you are afraid of?
Tomorrow’s post is on Gifts.