You are afraid of storms, animals, insects, growing up, death, the hospital, or anything else that comes to mind, and you feel like you are looked down upon because of it! You can be afraid of one thing, ten things, big things, small things, whatever it may be and you are called names when you admit your fears to others. People tend to believe that you must show everyone at all times that you are brave and not scared of anything to be considered a “normal” human. Newsflash, everybody! You are wrong. Being scared of something is what makes us human and is what should be considered normal.

Personally, I am afraid of a lot of things, but I am terrified most of needles. Needles have been a fear of mine since I was a little kid. However, in my defense, how can you not be afraid of needles going into your body and doing something to it? When I was a kid, I had to get a shot and my mother wouldn’t tell me about it because she knew that she would never be able to get me into the doctor’s office (she did this with me until I was 18 years old).

When it began, I remember sitting on the exam table, happy and ready to go, however, when my doctor walked in and asked, “Who’s ready to get a shot?” I screamed bloody murder, ran out of the room, down the hallway, found a chair and wrapped myself around each of its legs. I continued to scream bloody murder the whole time (if you are somehow remembering this event while reading this, I sincerely apologize that you happened to witness it).

Fast forward about 15 years later and I’m still as scared as I was during that visit to get that shot. The difference is that if I acted the same way as I did back then, I don’t believe the punishment would still be a lollipop after I got it over with. I have faced my fear multiple times a year ever since I was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease known as Lupus. A needle gets to go inside my vein and take my blood every three months. Let me tell you that it is still the scariest thing that I go through. My last visit to the hospital, I was breathing in and out like a woman in labor to try to calm myself down. As embarrassing as that sounds, in my defense, it was in an arm that usually wasn’t poked with the needle and I had to get seven pretty big tubes taken as well.

Being afraid and being around to face your fears is something that almost no one wants to do. Hiding your fears and telling others that you are not afraid of something is something we also need to stop doing. Even after many years of getting stuck with needles, I can tell you I will always be afraid of needles. I’m okay with admitting I have fears and I don’t feel uptight about it because I know that fears are a part of being human. Newsflash, world: being scared and having fears is okay, and it's time we start acting like it.