The other day I came across the question “What are your fears?” I haven’t actually thought about this question in a while, but when I did, I was somewhat shocked, but also not surprised that I had so many. Maybe I am just one big crybaby or maybe this is normal? Regardless of that though, I decided to share them with you because maybe I will have something in common with those who read this. Another reason is because I feel as if fears are a topic not many people like talking about because they see it as a sign of weakness. I believe that talking about your fears is one step closer to facing your fears and conquering them. With that being said, here are my fears.
1. Death
This maybe a very dark topic to start off with, but I feel like it is very common among people. To me, it is one of my ultimate fears because death is the end of all things and we don’t truly know what happens afterwards no matter what religion you believe. It isn’t just my death that scares me though. It’s also the death of my family, friends, loved ones, and even animals that scare me.
2. Heights
This also might be a very common fear that many people have. I believe this fear stemmed from a childhood memory that I remember quite clearly. One day my brother decided to climb up a tree with a friend in the backyard. The tree was fairly tall but easy to climb up. I was maybe 5 or 6 though, so it was pretty tall to me. Once my mother found out that my brother was in the tree, she sent me out there to get him down. I went to the tree and climbed up it to tell my brother to get down. He didn’t listen, so I decided to climb down. As I climbed down, my sandal got stuck to the tree and I fell over. I was hanging upside down from the tree by my sandal strap for what seemed like forever. Then I ended up falling on the floor. After this, I had a fear of heights. I don’t like looking down to the floor even from the second story of buildings, I won’t like on drop tower rides at amusement parks and the worst parts of roller coasters for me.
3. Aliens
A fear of aliens may seem irrational, but this is a genuine fear of mine. Ever since I watched the movie “Signs” as a kid aliens have always scared me. It’s not all aliens that scare me though. Sci-Fi aliens, like ones from Star Wars and the movie Aliens, do not scare me. I actually think those ones are cool. What scares me are the aliens people classify as “the grays.” These are the ones that have the big eyes and look lanky. These scare me because they are the ones that have been claimed to be seen in real life. Although I do have a fear of aliens, I still find myself watching alien documentaries about alien theories from time to time. It still freaks me out though.
4. Being in tight places
I discovered recently that I have a pretty strong case of claustrophobia. I haven’t had any traumatizing experiences that caused me to have this fear, but I know for certain that being in tight, small places scares me. It’s the mere thought of it that just drives me crazy. I have seen people on TV get in small, dark tunnels and I would get so anxious and overwhelmed by it.
5. Hospitals/ Medical related things
My fear of hospitals and medical related things is due to the fact that I am a major hypochondriac. Every time I am in one, my anxiety goes through the roof and I turn into a paranoid mess. Doctor’s appointments are really hard for me because I have his terrible fear that the doctor will tell me something is wrong with me. This also ties in with my fear of death as well.
6. Not being successful
I didn’t develop this fear until I was in high school. Everyone would always talk about their ambitions and plans for the future around this time. It made me start worrying that I wouldn’t be successful because I didn’t really have major plans for my future and I felt pretty lost. I was scared that I would pretty much fail at life. I still have this fear even now. I also have this added pressure on me because I did great in high school. I feel like people are just expecting me to do great in life because of that and it makes me scared to let people down.
7. Spiders and Insects
This is probably the most common fear among others out of all of my fears. My fear of insects and spiders became very evident to me after I got on a Harry Potter ride at Universal Studios and there were a lot of huge spiders in the ride. I was crying my eyes out. Every time I see an insect or spider of some sort, I practically lose my mind and want to be as far away from it as possible. I can’t even bring myself to kill a bug because I am scared I will miss it and it will attack me.
8. Paranormal Activity
I know that not many people believe in ghosts, but based off of my personal experience I do. This is because when I was living in Savannah, Georgia as a kid I saw the chandelier violently spin without any explanation. That was the only paranormal thing I saw happen at that house, but my parents would tell me about other things that happened like the doors randomly slamming shut and seeing dark figures. Things like this now scare me to the point where if I watch a supposed paranormal activity video of something moving or being thrown, I can feel my eyes begin to water.
These are only just a few of my many fears, but these are the most prominent ones to me. I chose to talk about them to make it a normal thing amongst people. Having fears is a normal thing and something you shouldn’t be embarrassed about.
