Tuesday, July 19, 2011

What Do You Fear?



Ablutophobia- Fear of washing or bathing.

Allodoxaphobia- Fear of opinions.

Anglophobia- Fear of England or English culture, etc

Arachibutyrophobia- Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth.(Wouldn’t it be easier to say you have a fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth?)

Bibliophobia- Fear of books.

Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia- Fear of long words. (This just seems cruel.)

Lutraphobia- Fear of otters. (Behind that cute exterior is a vicious creature.)


What is the term for someone whom has a fear of love?  Philophobia, which is the fear of falling in love or being in love. Our brains are a powerful force. From the moment we are born into this world, brain receptors are taking in everything like a small sponge.  These receptors make a decision whether the brain likes something or not.  Fears may be easily developed. A natural response is to protect ourselves.  Have you ever been on a roller-coaster?  When you reached the top of the coaster what was your reaction before falling?  What were you thinking as you were falling?  Some people love the sensation of falling.  They love the anticipation of the fall.  Others are miserable from the moment they get into the car right on through until the car stops.  I do love fear. I thrive when I meet my fears head on.  Usually I discover, what I feared was not worthy of my worry or at the very least I am able to live with the fear.  I have trouble when it comes to fear of my loved ones getting hurt.  All my courage to meet my fear head on goes out the window and I find myself holding on too tightly.  So, I suppose my greatest fear is a fear of letting go and relinquishing control.

I watch my little nieces.  I have one niece that has no fear.  She’s two years old and she will climb anything.  While playing with her at the playground, she always wants to go higher.  She quickly moves for the highest slide to slide down.  My fear is that she will get hurt.  My BigSis is totally fine with my little niece running all over the play ground.  But for me all I see is a little human, with shaky legs and a heavy head. So my over-protective nature kicks in.  I follow her around the playground and I hold onto her.  BigSis just tells me to let her do her thing.

Lazy Girl:  “What if she gets hurt BigSis?”

BigSis: “She’s stronger and tougher than she looks.”

Lazy Girl: “Well, I’m still going down the slide with her.”

So what happens when you are afraid to love?  You’ve been burned in the past.  It’s only a natural survival instinct to protect yourself from ever being hurt again.  My hope is that we just become smarter, learn from our mistakes and meet our fears head on.  I’m still working on letting my niece slide down the big slide all by herself.  What’s your biggest fear?

1 comment:

  1. AnonymousJuly 20, 2011

    Any doctor will tell you, when something breaks, it heals and is STRONGER in the broken place. The patient is always fearful that they will someday suffer the same injury, but the fear is unfounded. It will never break in that spot again.

    I have very fond memories of a Young-and-fearless-You climbing up and then pitching yourself out of trees, exploring new trails in the woods, or encountering random wildlife while berry-picking.

    Dorothy D'Meia, the Bold and Undaunted!

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