I have this fear. It causes my legs to shake. I break out in a cold sweat. I start jabbering to anyone who is nearby. As thoughts of certain death run through my mind, the world appears a precious, treasured place. I imagine my own funeral, then shrink back at the implications of where my thoughts are taking me. My stomach feels strange. My palms are clammy.
I am terrified of heights.
Of course, it’s not really a fear of being in a high place. Rather, it is the view of a long way to fall, of rocks far below me and no firm wall between me and the edge. My sense of security is screamingly absent. There are no guardrails, flimsy though I picture them, or other safety devices. I can rely only on my own surefootedness—or lack thereof.
Despite
…show more content…
All I could think about was how far it would be to fall.
My tense thoughts were interrupted by the realization that my friends were already beginning to climb! My anxiety increased as I watched them.
Do I turn back? My whole being shouted, “Yes!” Will I regret it later? I really want to get to the top, but…
I voiced my uncertainties to my friends. They dismissed my fears and encouraged me to stick it out. Questioning my own sanity, I decided at least to attempt the climb.
I chose a path that seemed easiest. My friend Tom was ahead of me. Then, suddenly, he slipped and slid backward about 10 feet! I watched, paralyzed, until he stopped himself and assured us he was all right. My heart was hammering.
Now those who had tried the other way came back; it had not worked. Consoling myself that my friend Seth would be right behind me, I shakily began the ascent. The “path” led up a narrow area between boulders. In it, we reached a place where there just were no good handholds. Seth braced my foot, and those above sent down words of encouragement. I was soon past the first challenge safely, but not feeling much better about the rest of the climb.
The difficulties only increased from that point on, with scary spot after scary spot. Though I knew I should not look down, I could not always ignore the long drop to the boulders below. My breathing sped up, but my heart pounded even faster, growing loud in my ears.
As I ran, I felt my foot come down on top of a moss filled rock, and I knew I was in trouble. The slick moss ripped away from the slab of granite and it sent me flying. I knew the fall would be inevitable, and took the it as best I could and prayed for some luck. Branches ripped apart my face, snapping from the contact. Blood flicked up into my eyes. My shoulder made contact with the trunk of a tree as the rest of my body dug into the mud. My legs flipped up over me, crashing into piece of granite bulging out of the ground, pain traveled its way up my leg.
So I did it like 20 more times before finally resting up on the shore. As time passed by, it felt as if we spent the whole day swimming and jumping off a helicopter skydiving. Then the unexpected happen, my best friends Ivan and Nathan decided they wanted to get a go at the bridge. In my head, I knew this was not a good idea. The bridge was skyscraping, towering, mighty, I can’t even think of words to describe it. It was unmatchable and yet they want to jump off it. I tried to convince them not to, worrying that something might go wrong if they did. Quite frankly they didn’t care what I had to say and offered me to jump with them. I was already on the bridge with them and they were on the outside of the rails ready to jump. While all my friends are behind me they wanted to see all three of us jump at the same time. I was scared shitless. But being me I caved in and vaulted right over the rail and stood next to 2 of my best friends as we were about to jump a bridge. I’ve never been more scared in my life, looking down at my feet it looked like the people below me were ants. We stood there for a good 5 minutes contemplating on whether we should jump or not. The longer we sat there the worst it became, we were all trembling with fear. Both Ivan and Nathan had fear in their eyes like I’ve never seen before. I bet they were just as scared as I was. The sun was gleaming at all 3 of us as we stood there in shock and awe. But we had to man up and jump, so we did exactly that. The water was fragile, universe-blue-colour, making it appear like nature’s amphitheatre. At that very moment all 3 of us jumped, the air felt ice cold, it felt as if everything was statue still, like time froze on us. It was peaceful and comfortable, I have never experienced such a unique feeling. As we came racing down we smacked the water and plunged right for the surface gasping for air. It was a feeling that you can’t shake
At that time, I felt like a rookie sky diver preparing for his first plunge. The cabin door opens to reveal the extreme distance of his fall, which leads to either sheer excitement or eventual death. The naivete that sheltered his fear disappears at the sudden reality of the moment. By then, of course, it is much too late to turn back. The very thought that this was his idea seems absurd to him, and he feels like the only person on the face of the planet. And so he closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and
Do all living things fear something? Those with minds surely have many and various fears, but even the simplest organisms must have fear, for fear is such a powerful feeling. Fear is all around us and is felt in every corner of the earth. Fear is the emotion or feeling that a living creature gets when its physical or mental life is interrupted by a change that causes the creature concern.
In Matthew Hedger’s article “Yosemite National Park Day Hikes: Vernal Falls Death March”, he claims that you don’t always know what you’re getting into and find that things are harder than they seem. Hedger supports his claim with a story of his hike up Vernal Falls. His purpose is to inform his readers that you can always get through difficult things and that they’re stronger than they think. The intended audience is anyone who enjoys a good story and wants to know about hiking.
I have this fear that causes my body to shake. When I think about it, my skin becomes pale and cold. It’s death speeding through my mind. Once I have seen these monstrous roller coasters, the only thing in my mind was fear. Knowing that I’m afraid to go on these rides, I didn’t want to look like a fool in front of my friends. My mind is thinking of deadly thoughts. My palms were sweaty and I was twitching like a fish. I was petrified of heights.
We were all encouraged to choke down as much food as possible. Any kind of energy was essential. A melancholy atmosphere hung heavy as the journey progressed. Minutes walking slowly progressed into hours, the sky seemed to darken steadily. All of us were oblivious to the danger shrouded by the dim evening. Only moments after scaling a rather steep ledge did nature dice to turn sour. A deafening rumble made each climber perk up. Snow began to descend at an alarming rate. Thunder began to mic the steady beating of a drum, causing more concern among the ranks of climbers. The powdery snow became more of a risk than ever, climbing under pressure and leaving nothing to stand on. Third base was more than three hours away. Three hours wasn't possible at the rate. Snowfall this bad could be detrimental to the climb’s success. Snow obscured vision and numbed faces. Shouts and orders deemed lost in the screaming wind; people’s figure became shapeless blurs frantically shifting, hoping if they struggled against the wind hard enough, they might find someone. Of course, this was to no avail. Not a single person doubted their demise would come at this point: the stakes were high and no-one could play too well against Mother Nature. The snow crept up to knee-level, making it harder and harder to travel. Death and I were face-to-face. To some, they couldn't bare the idea of dying up here; they had families and friends, children who need parents and
Fear is something that large amounts of people have encountered at least once at some point in their lives. It has been said to have caused a variety of outcomes, many of them being largely negative. Therefore, it is a common human response to react to fear by counteracting it with positivity and/or success. The idea people have of what fear is depends on the person. In the article “How Fear Works”, for example, fear is defined as a “chain reaction in the brain that starts with a stressful stimulus and ends with the release of chemicals” (Layton 1). The website “Psychology Today” defines fear another way, calling it “a vital response to physical and emotional danger” ("Fear Paranoia”). There are several other definitions people have on the
Whether you're afraid of everything under the sun, or fearless everyone has had the feeling of fear overcome I believe anyone can overcome a fear. I have overcome a few fears in my life and believe with determination anyone can. I've been afraid of heights my entire life and overcoming that fear took years. I never thought it was possible for me to be in a roller coaster until that one day I was in a situation that made me surpass my fear. I've been afraid of heights since I can remember. Some people will scream and cry whenever they are far up in the air. To a person without that fear it may seem funny that being afraid of heights is childish stuff, but to me it's not. I personally am not a person to freak out about heights anymore since I finally conquered it by getting on a ton of rides and just letting it
Fear is a feeling induced by experience, perceived danger, or watching a frightening traumatic accident. The fear responses arise from the perception of danger and ultimately a change in behaviour, such as fleeing, or hiding or from perceived traumatic events. Every person has fears and different fears may be different adaptations that have been useful in our evolutionary past. I have fears too, and sometime, I feel embarrassed to intersperse my fear with others.
Fear of the unknown can be a fear of the dark or fear of what happens after we die. Children often experience fear of the dark typically because they imagined a danger like a monster that may be in the room but they cannot see inside to assure them that their perceived danger is absent. This fear of the unknown could result in the child hiding under his/her blankets or running to another family member’s room for safety. Similarly, people fear what happens when they die because there is no certainty other than someone’s faith or belief. Even being a person who experienced near death, I could not relieve someone’s fear by explaining that my experience was mind-blowing and amazing. Not only could their experience be different, but I do not know anything about what would have happened next.
of me. I remember how I felt after being awoken by the fear of death.
Fear is the number one obstacle everyone must overcome at some point in their life. When the word fear is brought up I like to think of past situations that I experienced. There are many different methods used to conquer and learn from our fears such and exposure therapy, having a growth mindset, and thinking positive. For example, when I was younger fear was my worst enemy, School was the main reason that caused my fear. My fear of failure was my biggest obstacle growing up so I used that as a method to learn from my fears.
I started feeling confident as I waited in line. Finally the moment arrived where I took my seat on the coaster. At this point my anxiety and fear came rushing back all at once and my blood even seemed to boil. I realized though if I didn’t do this now I probably never would. So I pulled the bar over my stomach and tried not to puke.
An unpleasant emotion or feeling caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat : Fear. Fear is a strong word, it can mean a variety of things and lead to a variety of things depending on who you are. My fear caused me to shake and tremble as if the world was coming to an end. It makes me feel safe around no one. I look back on my life and ask myself, was it all worth it for this? It makes me shrink and fall the size of of a humming bird. My stomach starts to feel like it never has before. My head is spinning in circles and my hands are trembling to the point where I think they might fall off.