Hello everyone ✨
Fear is a feeling we all have experienced in our lives at some point. Some people try as much as possible to block out this emotion but it is an emotion that's part of our being. I watched a series recently (Locke and key) and a girl in the series totally removed fear from the list of her emotions–with magic of course. Given this opportunity, many people would willingly want to eradicate certain emotions.
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I have been afraid of many things before, "height" being one of them. As a kid, I never slept in a dark room neither did I walk in darkness.
One thing I learnt about fear is that it is very dangerous. Many people have gotten a heart attack or even worse because of the fear of the "unknown". But truth is, if your mind doesn't know about something terrifying, then the thing doesn't know you either (I don't know if that makes sense).
Sometime ago, one of my friends came to stay over for the weekend. It was a fun weekend with lots of exploring and adventures. We learnt new things and created lasting memories in such a short time but something happened one night.
There was a total blackout at night. I don't know what happened to the source of electricity but for about an hour, there was no light in the whole of our area. I never really liked staying inside our house without light so my friend and I scurried down the stairs like two blind mice in the darkness.
The stars were my only source of solace as they illuminated the sky. We(my friend and I) stood by the wall chattering about random things when she told me to stand still. Why did she tell me not to move? Not like I was moving but now that she mentioned it, I wanted to flex my muscles and so I moved a bit.
She tried to stifle her fear as she said "wongi, there's a snake by the wall"
That sounded funny and so I laughed. She kept saying that it was a snake and she was very sure. She said that she saw it move a few seconds earlier. I had two questions for her.
First, there's a snake by the wall and you're still standing here with me? You should be on the roof of this building if it was actually a snake.
Second, why hasn't it bitten either of us yet? I thought wild snakes were all blood thirty cold blooded mammals?or was this reptile of a different breed?
We kept going back and forth with this argument till I told her that I was going to confirm it for myself. I was of the opinion that the thing she saw was a stick but she kept insisting. I bent down to carry the "stick" and the "stick" moved! Of course it was an actual snake! That was when fear set in. My heart beat rate increased and I was sweating when the weather was chilly. We immediately shifted from the wall and my first reaction was to scream.
Passersby ran over with torches but the snake was gone and I didn't see any stick by the wall either. Remember when I said that what you don't know doesn't know you either? I would have touched the snake left to me and the reptile would have probably reacted to my touch by biting me. Prior to this time, I was standing boldly by the wall but when the assumption was confirmed and fear set in, I couldn't even get close to any wall.
People react differently to fear but in most cases, the first instinct is to defend yourself from whatever is causing you to be afraid. I must say that it's amazing how the human brain reacts to fear. Adrenaline rush, sweaty palms, increased heartbeat, etc . Just like we're programmed to feel happy when something good happens to us, we're also programmed to be afraid when danger lurks.
In the end, we all have to confront our fear one way or the other. Fear is one thing that will keep recurring till it is tackled so fight that fear today.
Is there anything you're afraid of? Would you like to share?
Thank you for your time
With love, wongi ✨