Facing Fear

There is nothing to fear except fear itself, and yet, many individuals have all kinds of fears. Fears can be of anything. From the fear of feet (podophobia) to the fear of time (chronophobia) fears exist everywhere in this world and almost impossible to avoid. Some of the staff here have several fears. Mrs. Rafferty is scared of snakes (ophidiophobia) and the fear of seeing and talking about snot (myxophobia). “I just cannot stand talking about or seeing snot, it freaks me out and it’s incredibly disgusting,” states Mrs. Rafferty. Another staff member with a unique fear is Mrs. Sax who is afraid of tripping up a curb and falling and breaking all of her teeth. “Every time I go up a curb I take extra care to insure that I don’t trip and break my teeth,” states Mrs. Sax. The faculty here aren’t the only ones with fears though. Victoria Fimple, sophomore, has the fear to one day wake up and be obese (obesophobia). “The thought of going to bed skinny and waking up obese is crazy, but it really does freak me out. I can’t help it,” Victoria explains. Another student with a fear is junior, Jayde Eubanks. “My fear is of space. This includes black holes, the sun (stars), and meteors,” says Jayde. The fear of space is not an uncommon fear and it is called agoraphobia. Fears surround us every day and we often times do not acknowledge these fears until we are head to head with them. There are some interesting fears and some understandable fears. Some unique fears include: the fear of long words (Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia), the fear of being infested by worms (helminth phobia), or the fear of movement or motion (cainotophobia). While fears may pop up in our everyday life, it is vital to remember that these fears are common and that you can overcome them. Just remember, “Everything you want is on the other side of fear,” Jack Canfield.