Are You Afraid of the Dark?

I am.

In complete darkness I feel like I’m blind and I start to have a panic attack because I can’t tell if my eyelids are open or shut. I have night lights in almost every room of our house. My biggest fear is to have to use the bathroom at night and not being able to find it in time. I may be in my 30’s but when the power goes off in the middle of the night I still bolt awake in terror – thrashing around in bed in a state of sheer panic (much to my husband’s dismay).

Sound stupid? I bet there’s a bunch of people out there just like me.

I don’t have many extreme fears: the kind that make you sweat; your heart beating so hard you can hear the blood rushing in your ears. But here’s a couple that I do suffer from.

Snakes – A cliché I know, but there are two words for these vile creatures. PURE. EVIL.

Drowning – I’m an excellent swimmer and I love the water. It’s the act of being trapped underwater and not being able to get to the surface that really scares me. And if you REALLY want to get specific my biggest fear in this category is flying off a bridge in a car and being trapped in it while it sinks. Whenever I see that happen in a movie or TV show I hyperventilate.

My husband and I are big cruisers but when I was younger I watched The Poseidon Adventure and it has forever scarred my memory. When we take cruises I make sure to get a cabin that is closest to the nearest stairwell and then I time myself holding my breath from my cabin door to the outside promenade deck to make sure I can swim it if the ship decides to flip over. I know, deep down, that it’s all ludicrous, but I do it anyway to give myself some peace of mind.

Lord, please don’t ever take this away from me.

Awkward Moments – Seriously. There’s nothing I abhor more than being in a situation where you get that nervous sick-to-your-stomach feeling because people are arguing, someone said something they shouldn’t have, or you know something is about to happen and you can’t stop it. I can’t watch a lot of reality TV because of this fear – it makes me nervous and uncomfortable.

When my sister graduated from college one of the speakers at her baccalaureate passed out at the podium and went down like a sack of potatoes. I saw it coming – we all did – and the 10 or so seconds it took for us to see her shakily start her speech and then fall to the floor were excruciating. I felt sorry for her, but I couldn’t look away – witnessing her fear of public speaking (and the very awkward end to it) made me want to run screaming from the room.

Gluten Intolerance – Yes this is a real fear of mine. Several of my family members have recently developed this and the thought of never eating REAL pasta or bread again makes me want to slit my wrists. I know that if I do end up getting it I’ll survive, just like the millions of other people living with Celiac disease and gluten intolerance. But I still fear it just the same.

My Teeth Falling Out – HA, yes, again, a very real fear of mine. I have nightmares where my teeth fall out of my head or break off while I’m eating something. God knows what THAT’S about.

What are YOU afraid of?

I’d love to know. My sister is afraid of whales and Santa Claus. Can anyone top that?

Image (c) stumptownpanda/Flickr