Day 7: Things That Go "Bump" in the Night....

In an effort to write more frequently, I decided to take part in the Blogging Every Day in May challenge. I know I’m coming into it a few days behind, so I’ll be posting quite a few things in the next couple days as I get caught up. 

I have a lot of fears. Some of them are rational (getting hit by a drunk driver, going off the road in bad weather), but most are not. I am okay with this, despite the fact that sometimes, my fears cause me mild embarrassment.

More than pretty much anything else in the world, I am scared of the dark. I know, I know, it’s kind of juvenile, and completely ridiculous. Rationally, I know that there is nothing that can hurt me in the dark that couldn’t also hurt me in the light. I know that turning off my bedroom light does not actually send a signal to all the monsters lurking about that it’s okay for them to come in and start haunting me. I know that 99.999% of all the things that scare me about the dark are completely made up in my head, and have absolutely no bearing on reality whatsoever. Doesn’t matter. I’m still terrified. 

I have thankfully progressed past the point of sleeping with my lights on all the time, but I do still have to have a TV on or something, which isn’t exactly healthy, but is at least marginally better than not sleeping at all because I’m too nervous there’s something creeping up next to my bed to eat my face off or something. Big thanks to Amberly for sharing her fear and letting me know I’m not alone in this!!

I am also extremely scared of water when I can’t see what’s around me. I am a strong swimmer, and I love being in pools, regardless of depth, but put me in a lake or a river, and I freak right out. The ocean, however, doesn’t scare me one bit. I know that’s weird, since the ocean is home to way more things that could kill me than a lake or river, not the mention the fact that the ocean itself could kill me without any help from its inhabitants. Be that as it may, however, I would take the ocean any day over a river or lake.

One quick side note about the fear of water thing….I used to be much more afraid of deep water than I am now, even in a pool. I remember when I would go to the indoor pool in my town when I was growing up – it is an Olympic sized pool with a 12-foot deep end, and if it wasn’t very full, I would always imagine something completely silly and irrational like there being a shark or something in the water. Has anyone else ever experienced that??

I also have a strong fear of tanning beds. (Weird? Not weird? I don't know.) I have always been somewhat claustrophobic, so they’re a little unnerving just for the shut-in aspect alone, but ever since I saw the preview to whatever Final Destination movie it was where the girl died in a malfunctioning tanning bed, I’ve been considerably more terrified. It works out okay for me usually, since I don’t tan very often anyway, but on the rare occasions that I do, I have to consciously work to slow my breathing and heart rate, and not freak the heck out and break stuff/burn myself.

What scares you the most, and what do you do to deal with it?