Facing Your Fear

Are you living your life in fear? Or with one fear in particular? I can most definitely relate if you do. We’ve been learning all about anxiety disorders in my abnormal psychology class, particularly phobias. I don’t think you can fully comprehend the full weight of a phobia until you are plagued by it, but as I know, it can be a heavy burden.Laugh all you like, but for as long as I can remember I’ve had a fear of vomit. Why? I’ll never know. I’ll literally start panicking if I see or hear someone get sick. I hate this because I want to help people when they’re not feeling well…but instead I tend to run away. As I can contest, phobias (although I don’t think I have it full blown) can be a huge detriment to happiness and take away from potential life experiences. Whether it’s snakes, elevators, being in public (also known as agoraphobia)—it’s not something to take lightly.Thankfully, this class has shown me that the heavy load can be lifted. By exposing yourself to what you fear, whether it is in small increments or you face it full on, you can conquer any qualms you may have. It’s when we avoid our fears that they manifest themselves. I know this to be true recently. I’ve gotten sick three different times this year because of medication and I’m proud to say that last night as I got sick, I barely flinched. Before, it would have been a near panic attack. Don’t get me wrong, it’s never fun and I will most certainly never be bulimic, but I don’t have the same, larger-than-life fear that I had before. Baby steps.What fear will you attempt to conquer? Perhaps we’re dealing with spiders or skyscrapers or just a general stress. You can overcome it—I have faith in you—because I know the pursuit for happiness is greater than the avoidance of fear.Keep shining,The Sunny Girl, Lauren CookPlease follow me on Twitter by clicking here!