Irrational Fear

Fear is a tricky thing.  It can be helpful if it keeps you from doing stupid or dangerous things.  I'm pretty sure that the fear of getting caught kept me from trying many of the things my friends did growing up.  I know it was instrumental in my getting good grades.  I feared disappointing my parents.  Not that they would have done anything to me, but just that I didn't want to disappoint. 

Conversely, fear is sometimes irrational and unexplainable, and it can be an obstacle to success.   I'm sure I missed out on more than a few opportunities because of the fear of failure or embarrassment.  I'm sure that just about everyone has something they fear, rational or irrational is debatable. 

The Princess has a fear of geese.  We don't know why she has a "goose problem" as she calls it, but it's there nonetheless.  We gave her a really bad time for a while after she read The Goose Girl.

Zeke is afraid of flies.  Not flying...  Flies.  Specifically, the common, house variety.  You'd think they were miniature, flying weapons of mass destruction the way he carries on...

The Boy is terrified of shots.  When he was 16, we had to get an over sized nurse to sit on him just so we could get his flu shot in his arm!

And then there are my irrational fears...  I can honestly say that I don't believe I'm a fearful person.  I love roller coasters and scary movies.  I scuba dive and love the challenge of a Black Diamond on my snowboard.  But here's my secret...  I can't stand to open those biscuits that come in the cardboard tube.  I feel the dread building even as I start unrolling the cardboard.  But what could possibly happen?  I mean seriously, death by dough is hardly probable.

And another thing I fear, although I love to scuba dive, I am a frantic snorkeler.  I can't help but envision wave after wave splashing down over my snorkel tube, causing me to inhale the salty water which will lead to my watery death...

But my newest fear may beat them all.  It goes hand-in-hand with another of my fears.  I have always had an unexplainable fear of losing my teeth.  I don't have nightmares of monsters or gouls, my nighmares revolve around being somewhere important, only to discover that I'm missing my front teeth.  To clarify, I'm not afraid of the dentist, just what may happen if I don't heed the advice of my dentist.  And to diminish the probablility that I may eventually lose my teeth, I have invested in good oral hygeine.  The problem is, I have inexplicably found myself fearful of my new Sonicare toothbrush.  And, as if my fear wasn't bad enough, I just had to read the directions.  That vibrating, scrubbing thing that is does in my mouth is something I can barely stand.  And now the directions inform me that after the 12th use, the vibrating will become more intense.  Apparently it scares lots of people, so it's programed to ramp up as you get used to the experience.  Truly, I'm not sure I'll survive it.  My teeth might be shiney and white, but I may find myself in need of a Valium...  Yikes!