10 Day You Challenge - Day Three

Day Three - Eight Fears

This was a tough one for me. Apparently, I don't dwell on my fears. It was actually a challenge to round up eight things that "scare" me.

1. Spiders. I am deathly afraid of spiders. The fear started when I was in elementary school. I used to attend a week-long outdoor, nature camp at Greenway Farms. The last day of camp we did a half-day canoe trip up the creek. Everything was great, until we ran into a tree the had fallen down across the creek. The tree was a huge, infested spider-nest. They crawled all of over us! The only thing we could do was flip the canoe and get in the creek. It was probably one of the most traumatic experiences of my life.

2. The Ocean. I will mostly like never get into the ocean, above my knees, ever again. Possibly, if the water is crystal clear, but it is still up for debate. The ocean is just so massive and full of millions of creatures. It is too much for my head to wrap around. It just freaks me out. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the beach, but you will most likely find me parked in the sand.

3. Needles. I am getting light-headed just thinking about it. It is so bad that it makes me sick to just watch others get shots, IVs, blood drawn, etc. While Ed was in the hospital, it was horrible. The medication they were giving him kept burning up his veins, so the IV team was in there every other day moving the IV site. Torture. For him and me!

4. Losing a Loved One. Up until this point in my life, I have not lost anyone that I have been extremely close to. My Dad's father passed away this year, but I wasn't as close to him as I could have been. Which is equally sad. The hardest experience with death I have been through has a been a dear friend, Michael Jolly. It was extremely hard because he was so young and it didn't have to happen. Jolly was a great person, and we had really become close. We had been spending time with him almost daily. He was even an usher at our wedding. I still miss that kid.

5. Bumps in the Night. I blame this on my parents letting me watch "Rescue 911" as a child. We have to have a noise machine on every night so that it drowns out any noises that may happen. Living in an old house means that noises are common. I can here a board squeak and then I am convinced that the Boogey Man is right outside my door!

6. Scary Movies. I. Do. Not. Watch. Them. I refuse. Don't even bother. The last scary movie I saw was "Last House on the Left." Let's just say I left the theater sobbing. I think part of the meltdown was due to the diet I had been on that week. I'm convinced that diets mess with my hormones. Regardless, scary movies are not my friend

7. Confrontation. I avoid confrontation at all costs. Even if I am not involved, I get really nervous and awkward when I see it going on. I am the type of person who tries to be two steps ahead of everything just so I can keep confrontation down to a minimum. Sometimes I am told that I am "too nice." I do go out of my way to help others, but sometimes it is just to avoid a sticky situation.

8. Failure. This is easily one of my greatest fears. I probably take this one a little too far. I refuse to do things that I am not good at. I know that it is a terrible attitude to have, but I do. I think that is why I am having such a hard time getting back into shape. Exercise doesn't come easy for me anymore, so I get frustrated and quit. Go ahead and add an attitude adjustment to my 2012 resolutions. I am scared of failure in all areas, even personal and work related. I feel like I have extra pressure on the job this year, and it has been a little challenging. Having the drive to succeed has probably help me to reach the expectation set by me and others, but it sure can be stressful sometimes.

Well, there you have it. Tomorrow's topic is Seven Wants. This could be interesting....