What Is Your Biggest Fear?

Fear. The four letter word that does to me what it was meant to. Scares me blind.

Uncle Google says that Fear is a feeling induced by perceived danger or threat that occurs in certain types of organisms, which causes a change in metabolic and organ functions and ultimately a change in behavior, such as fleeing, hiding, or freezing from perceived traumatic events.

I think that one’s biggest fear is something else.

I think it is the crippling feeling you get when you are faced with a situation or thing that you cannot run from.

What is your biggest fear?

I asked this question to some of the people I felt were diverse enough to represent a significant number of the population and I got a number of interesting answers.

1. God.
This I understand. God is the eternal being who created and preserves all things. Christians believe God to be both transcendent and immanent. For an existence like that, one is warranted the right to fear the doctrine of the Trinity.

2. Death.
It doesn’t matter what time you fear for this. Some fear dying before 40, some right now and others in the near future.

I however have come to terms with the idea that death comes to us all. The circumstances leading to it may all be different but in the end, but it will happen to us all. It may seem scary and dark, and maybe it is just me, but death is a natural part of a life lived.

3. Being poor
Don’t I know it. This was one legitimate answer. It made me rethink what my actual fear is. Nobody wants to grow up, go to school, live life and end up being the poorest you could ever be.

4. Snakes
I used to be afraid of snakes. Don’t get me wrong, they still make me uncomfortable but I have had a number of interactions (if I may call them that) with snakes that I am not out rightly afraid of them. Instead, I think I am wary of their existence.

5. Crawling insects
A favorite of mine. I hate anything with a thorax paired with 3 or 4 pairs of legs. Slithering ones also make me cringe. Generally, I simply can’t stand anything that is not either human or an animal. Millipedes in particular have a special place somewhere that is not near me.

6. Not achieving one’s dreams
Honestly, I think I strive to achieve my dreams everyday for this to be a burden for me. I believe in doing all things possible to do what you can to be happy.

My last few posts have been about being happy and happiness for me is being content with who and what I am, meaning that I have to work to achieve my dreams because that will also make me happy.
(I don’t know if this makes as much sense as it does for me)

7. Losing all you worked for

Another thinker here. Imagine doing everything to achieve all you dream of and ending up losing it all. Tragic.

8. Rejection
This came in all forms. Not getting a job. Not getting that guy or that girl you like and such.
I don’t think this should be a problem for anyone though. Rejection is part of life. Not everyone is going to like what you do and you are not going to satisfy the needs that everyone around you has. So let loose, be free and remember that Hakuna Matata.

Also, not being enough for someone falls in this category, I think. And you should never ever think that you are not enough. Maybe they are the ones that are not for you. Remember… Hakuna Matata

9. Being hit by a guy
This was a little personal but I thought I should also address it, since there has to be a number of those who have grown up in households that their mothers were hit and where domestic violence was a norm.
It should however be motivation enough to find someone who is better than the one you grew up under, but I don’t know much under this.

10. The dark
This is mine. It’s not my biggest fear. That comes later. The dark, for me, gets kinda scary because I have a wild imagination and I put myself through horror movies for this reason. I get a kind of adrenaline rush that has my heart beating faster and my breathing becomes laboured.
I have grown to like the feeling that the dark gives me, and I might be alone in this, but I love that I am scared of the dark.

My biggest fear however, is being afraid.

Cliché, I know.

I am scared of being too afraid to try new things or living life or making life changing decisions.

I’m scared of being afraid of being me so much that at times I hold myself back from doing the things that might alter what and who I am.

I struggle so much with making new friends because I am afraid of losing them. I am afraid of fear itself because fear can be crippling.

Fear can make you do things you never thought you could do, but also, fear can make you do things you never thought you could ever bring yourself to doing, and that is the beauty of it all.
(PS… Yesterday I removed a really long slug that was on my wall after being scared of it for about 30 minutes)

But someone just told me that life is too short to be afraid of outcomes and eventualities. And that hit really deep.