Face your Fears!

As I sit looking out to the blizzard that is taking hold outside, I’m already getting that nagging feeling in my stomach. You know, the dread that after it dumps 12 inches of snow I’ll be forced to venture out in my Eskimo suit to face my fear of driving in the snow to work. My friends even make fun of me for being their personal meteorologist because I always know at least three days in advance if I’ll have to drive in the stupid snow. These thoughts have led me to the idea of fear. It seems like I’ve become quite a chicken as I think of all of the things that I am afraid of. These include but are not limited to:

·         The dark

·         Spiders

·         Snakes

·         Death by shark bite

·         Riding my bike not on a designated bike path

·         Heights

·         Birds

·         Airplanes when they are getting ready to land (ironically I’m fine during take off)

·         Being sick or injured

Where did all of these irrational fears come from? I can totally persuade myself that the chances of Jaws attacking me is pretty minimal in my landlocked location, however even a picture of a snake gives me the shivers. What creates this feeling inside of us? And furthermore, how is it that so many of us have similar fears?

I wish I had some sort of advice for how to overcome these fears, but as it turns out this wuss is pretty unhelpful in this area. I spent my last snowy commute quoting Home Alone when Kevin runs out of his house  to yell only to find the scary snow shovel guy. “Hey! I’m not afraid anymore! I said, I’m not afraid anymore!” It seemed to work as I got to work on time and feeling confident with my slick driving skills. Perhaps there is more to this positive affirmation business then I give it credit for. So if the next time you see me staring at a flock of birds and screaming that I’m not afraid of them anymore, just know that’s what I’m doing. Cheers to facing your fears!

Decisions, decisions

I find it interesting that people are always saying that they hate making decisions, because life is truly about a million different choices that we make every day. What to wear, what to eat, when to leave for work, etc. The conundrum that I’ve been facing over the past months however, has been those choices which are of a much larger nature.  You see, I’m a worrier. I worry about things that I cannot control, ie: will I be happy and satisfied with my life in 70 years? It’s almost as if I’m wishing for a book, you know like “Your Ultimate Guide to Life.” But I suppose that life would not be worth living if you simply had to follow a book.  Instead, maybe I need some sort of app to help me make a decision, you know like heads or tails. But then again, you shouldn’t trust your decisions on pure chance either.

I remember thinking I had it all figured out when I was a kid and asked for a Magic Eight Ball for Christmas. I was dying to ask this magical ball all sorts of questions, mostly involving my latest crush of course. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the Magic Eight ball was nothing but a dice rolling around in some blue liquid. There was no magic at all, just some stupid dice telling me to “Try Again Later.” What a discouraging toy.

I think that what it ultimately comes down to is that our minds have made decisions for us before we even know that we have made them. Fate takes our hand and tries to lead us the right way. I know that I have made poor choices in the past, but learning to a. not think about them, b. shiver and scrunch up my face when I do, and c. learn from my choices has led me to believe that I’m actually a pretty good decision maker.  I’m not sure if it’s nature or nurture, but somehow I’ve been led to feel like I’ve made the best decision for myself. My advice to those of you out there attempting to make decisions of your own is to trust that gut, and not glare at people who tell you that, “When you know, you’ll know.” There might actually be something to that quote.