Fear.

I wish I had less of it.    Way less.   But alas, I have it.  In bucket loads, sometimes.

That whole campaign on “No Fear” sort of cracks me up.

You see.  We are humans.  Like it or not, fear is a part of being human.  It is a vital response  we have…. to physical and / or emotional danger.  If we didn’t feel fear at all, we would not be able to protect ourselves from valid dangers and threats.   So the whole “No Fear” thing is a bit absurd, really.  But people feel a whole level of cool when they have the stickers on their cars and such.  And it is okay to feel cool.

But let’s go back.  When I was a kid, I feared things like Vincent Price movies and roller coasters.  Heights.  The Wicked Witch of the West.  Pitch Black.  Spiders and snakes.  And. Certain people I knew.

Today… none of those things scare me at all…. ….  except the latter.  In fact, I seem to be slightly more daring than I ever have before.  There was a time when I wouldn’t have zip-lined, or taken a helicopter tour of volcanoes, or even swam into waters to see any kind of shark.  But I’ve done all of those things recently.

Yet. A whole bunch of other things put fear in me these days.

Mostly, the “Not Knowing.”  Although, that’s part of being human too.  We don’t know.  We can’t know.   The very next minute might bring anything.  Anything at all.

The top ten fears in the United States…. according to a recent gallop poll…. (in order):  terrorist attacks, spiders, death, being a failure, war, criminal or gang violence, being alone, the future unknown, and nuclear war.  Some more top “fear of” things, are….. flying, heights, surgery, clowns, intimacy, death, rejection, people, snakes, failure, and driving.

I would lump most of those above fears into one category.  The future unknown.

At any rate, I know we can’t know, but I wish I could know.  Or maybe I don’t want to know.  Who knows.

Say that three times fast.

Of course… there are the little things which sort of scare me.
• Donald Trump and his hair.
• If marijuana becomes legal… what will happen to all the dogs trained to sniff it out at airports, and schools and such?  I hope they will be able to find jobs elsewhere.
• I have never met anyone who has slipped on a banana peel.  I just know it is simply a matter of time until it happens to some clown out there.
• I might be an evil twin, and I just don’t know it.  We could have been separated at birth, and my good twin is out there somewhere.
• What happened to all the Cabbage-Patch-Parents?  It must have been bad.
• When cows get really old, do they automatically give spoiled milk?

Enough about my worries.
I’m actually happy a good deal of the time.  There is a lot to be happy about in this life of ours.  We have what we have right now, and that is enough.  I’m grateful and glad for that.  And.  I am especially happy that I’ve never slipped on a banana peel.  Even if I am an Evil Twin.

A cat bitten once by a snake dreads even rope.  ~Arab Proverb

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There are very few monsters who warrant the fear we have of them.  ~Andre Gide

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Fear is the highest fence. ~Dudley Nichols