I'm in the middle of reading a scary book now. It's very suspenseful and gruesome. Last night, I started thinking about things that I'm afraid of and why. I've determined that I am deathly afraid of heights, but also terrified of lizards, bugs, frogs, snakes, and losing a family member.
The fear of heights is probably the worst of all. I am literally paralyzed with the fear of being unenclosed more than a few feet off the ground. I've even had problems in high rise office buildings, just knowing that I'm way up high. In addition to the paralysis, I get chills, cottonmouth, and rapid heartrate. To put it mildly, it's a meltdown.
I've had this all of my life. I'm not sure if there is a way to overcome it. A few years back, I saw a program on television where folks confronted their height fears by rappelling down the skyscrapers and shimmying across catwalks. Either of those would be out of the question for me. I've simply been able to avoid situations where I have to be up high. I'll spring for the floor seats at concerts and sporting events, and not venture out onto the terraces of cloud dwelling friends.
What about you? What are you afraid of? How do you work around it? Have you ever confronted it head-on?
Your comments--priceless!!
