Situation: Cammie, her parents. and her siblings moved into a big old house when she was ten years old. Since Cammie was the oldest child, she was given her own room. Cammie had the usual childhood fears of spiders, mice, and snakes, but there was another fear that was worse. Cammie heard 'moans' on the roof outside her dormer windows. She heard these scary sounds either at night or in the early morning when her curtains were closed. Cammie was sure that very dirty, very old, bummy men were slowly climbing up the incline of the roof to get her and hurt her. The little girl cowered in fear, pulling up her blanket over her head so they couldn't find her. She had to be very sure to not let her feet hang over her bed because if one of the bad men were under her bed, he would grab her.
After Cammie got tired of being afraid, she would throw off her covers, run to the stairs, and join her family for breakfast. By the time she got downstairs, she always forgot about the moans. She never thought to tell her parents.
The years went on and Cammie was in high school. One early morning, she heard the moans. She got mad! "What on earth is out there that has been scaring me so much? " she thought. Cammie resolved, "Well, I'll just have to see for myself. I can run fast if I need to!"
Cammie walked over to her windows, threw open her curtains, and let her window shade up with a bang. What did she find? Pigeons! They were all over the roof. Cammie laughed to herself. Never again would she be afraid. She would deal with it!
Lessons learned: So many people are crippled with fears: what might happen? . . . if I see a dog I'll cross to the other side of the street . . . I stay inside because there are wasps in my yard. . . what if my boss doesn't like me and fires me? . . . What if? . . . What if?
The mentally healthy attitude is to face your fears and decide if they're real or not. Always we have to have a respect for natural dangers (traffic, wild animals, weapons, etc.). But to fear what might happen wastes our time and saps our energy. Know in your heart that whatever happens, you CAN deal with it!
These blog entries are aimed at creating and maintaining wholesome, loving relationships. The first task to achieving that is knowing ourselves very well and striving to be the best person we can be. I do hope you'll help us by commenting and offering your own situations, anonymously, if you like.
Outcome: 99% of what's in my blog comes from those I've known over the years. Of course, like I mentioned in Blog #1 (Monday, May 20, 2013: "Why Start a Relationship Blog"), names and other identifying info is changed. Cammie is me! I'll have to ask all my adult children if they had some fear like that. I would hate to think they cowered under their blankets like I did, for a fear that was not real.
Remember, God loves us and wants us to be happy!
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