Whatcha Skeered Of???

I was talking to my girlfriend Trina the other day and she mentioned that her husband was afraid of needles. So afraid that even though he was quite sick this past week he refused to get a shot. He even went so far as to tell the people in the Dr’s Office that he was allergic to needles.

I found his statement to be amusing as well as interesting. Here was a grown man that was so afraid of shots that he would rather be sick longer that have to endure the unbearable. This morning I got to thinking about this again and all the things in life that people fear. That is when I asked myself; what is my greatest fear?

I decided to take a Poll of my Facebook friends and see what struck fear in their hearts. I received all kinds of answers. Some were very serious and detailed and others were a little on the lighter side. I appreciated each and every response. It meant a lot that everyone took a moment to make them selves transparent to the world like that.

The list of fears contained many of the usual suspects; spiders, rodents, bees and snakes. There was also fear of heights, closed in spaces, drowning and Tornados. Crossing bridges over water as well as black water. Auto accidents, home invasions and death; of ones own self or of ones child.  I noticed that several times it was mentioned that losing ones own health while still being responsible for taking care of others was on the minds of some. I am sure that we will all feel like this at some point in our lives.

The fear of clowns, dwarfs, the biscuit making skills (or lack of) of one particular wife and the current fashion of low rise jeans made the list as well. A girlfriend still had a healthy fear of her mom who can "still kick her butt" and another friend acknowledged that his wife was “packing heat” and that he had respect for her ability to hit a moving target when need be.

The gentleman that was afraid of needles called me this evening on his way home from work. He said he heard I was taking a poll that spun off of his fear of needles. He told me his fear of needles actually had been a great comfort to his mother during his teen years. She felt confident that his phobia would definitely deter him from becoming a heroin addict. We had a good laugh over that!

I believe, no matter how old or “grown” we get, there will still be things that we don’t want to face. There are circumstances that will make us uncomfortable and can at times paralyze us with fear. We may be adults but there are and will always be the one thing, or things out there that will make us feel like we are as helpless as a child.

Myself? I cannot decide if I am afraid of failure or of success. I have always wanted to write but have worried too much about what others would think of what I had to say. I have decided to face my fear and put my words out there for the entire world to see. So here’s my attempt at being brave.

Trina, don’t worry as long as I am alive you won’t have to worry about being alone. I feel like we will be trespassing together for many years to come. Here’s to us, two old bats!