Adventure #13: Being Scared

Fear:  False Evidence Appearing Real. ~Author Unknown

When I was 16, I was scared to get my driver's license. I almost refused to learn to drive. Looking back now, it is one of my greatest blessings to know how to drive. Driving is also one of my favorite things to do! 

Similarly, I recently graduated from Southern Utah University with a degree in Elementary Education. I'm scared of getting a job teaching. Right now, the prospect seems the most terrifying of anything I could be doing. But I wonder if I just do it (as Nike says), maybe teaching will turn into something I love as much as driving.

But this is only one type of being scared.

As far as being scared by something jumping out or some such thing, one of my favorite and least favorite stories can be used to explain. I once went camping with a group of girls to my friend's cabin. This cabin had an outhouse which seemed like no big deal until it was dark and I had to use it. Swallowing what seemed like irrational fears, I walk over to the outhouse, open the latched door, and look upon a dummy (who's name, i found out later, is Maestro). Well, I didn't even react out loud...my heart was pounding...i nearly peed my pants...but I didn't make a noise. And instead just returned to the fire.

Still I had business to do! Since I didn't make a noise, no one knew I'd been over there. So when I mentioned that I still needed to use the outhouse, one of the other girls suggest I 'just do it' (again Nike). Well, my retort was snappy, "Why don't you do it?" Very clever on my part, I'd say. She walked over, open the latched door, and screamed! Her reaction got the attention of everyone. Once calmed down, my part of the story was told, consoled, and mocked. I did get to use it finally but refused until the dummy was hundreds of feet away.

There have been many other times I've experience fear of one type or another.

But the thing I'll never understand is people scaring themselves for fun. Last year with a group composed of roommates and friends, we decided to go to a haunted corn maze - that we had to wait in line for like 2 hours to get into. So, not only were we facing scaring ourselves, we also had to wait and not change our minds. I don't know about the rest of the world but my imagination is the worst part of these experiences. Though I think at least of my roommates would agreed because she was screaming and running away from things before we even entered the maze (and yes, this roommate attached herself to my other roommate who still has a scar from the experience).

My long-winded point is: all of these stories illustrate a key point that Nike summed up this way - Just Do It! Getting a driver's license, starting a career, using a scary outhouse, and waiting for hours to get through a haunted corn maze...In the end, after getting past resistance and for best results, DOn't quIT!