Fuck Everything And Run! Truth be told; that’s probably what’s in most individual’s thoughts when it comes to confronting fear. We hate to be reminded of it but we all do have fear for certain things. For the exception of a few rare ones who have confronted heads on with their innermost fears, most of us often choose to live in denial and brush aside the fact that we do have insecurities. Well… At least, that would be the case for me and I would like to belief that I’m a normal bloke and not queer.
In the song “Two Steps Behind”, Def Leppard reminded the whole world that “you can run but you can never hide from the shadow that’s hanging deep inside….” As freaky as it might seem, there’s a whole load of truth in that and what makes it even freakier is the fact that not a single bit of it seems surreal.
I don’t even know where to start if I had to list down all my fears but ‘acrophobia’ or simply known as the fear of heights would definitely rank way up there for me. As a kid, crossing pedestrian bridges was a nightmare for I always had this conception that the bridge would collapse when I’m crossing over. As I grew older and crossed more pedestrian bridges (by force, not by choice for the other option was to get rolled over by cars travelling at 80km/h), I started to realize that it wasn’t that bad afterall. Not having any bridges collapsed as yet while I’m crossing over does make it easier but that doesn’t change the fact that crossing pedestrian bridges had always been as extreme as it gets for me when it comes to height.
Now that I have started clearing my closet, this reminds me of the incident when I chose to be sneered by my friends rather than cross a suspension bridge while we were on vacation. Despite it having been so long ago, I still do get “shit” from my mates from time to time but I’ve somehow got acclimatized to that. In fact, I had started getting comfortable with it, knowing that they will always have something to laugh at when they’re trying to pick on me. Afterall, there are certain things in life that can never be changed and if we can’t or are not willing to do anything about it, the next best thing is to shut up and acknowledge defeat. The “fear” would differ for every individual and acrophobia was probably my biggest nemesis.
Nonetheless, I started seeing the light at the end of the tunnel recently when I was “convinced” to get onto a “Tower of
Terror” ride in a theme park. For the clueless, the “Tower of Terror” is one of those rides where you are strapped onto a seat that rises like 150 feet high before it just drops in a matter of seconds. I had always wondered why people would want to put themselves through so much pain and queue up to get onto a ride where your heart gets disjointed from your body at the point of “the drop”. Well, that had always been my perception until after I’ve been on it myself and now that I can proudly claim that I’m one of those “extremists” who has tackled that ride, I don’t think I would have any reservations going onto another one of such rides again. Heck, I’m even thinking of going bungee jumping next!
Having gone on and on with a dull story, the point I’m getting to is that the best way to deal with fear is to confront it heads on. I’m sure we’ve heard of others mentioning this but there is always an apprehension to do so. As corny as it might sound, life is short and we should not live to regret anything or be left wondering “what if”. One of the things I value deeply is the need to live everyday as if it’s the last. The next time I cross a pedestrian bridge; I would probably stop in the middle, jump a couple of times and look over. If you happen to come across me doing it, just ignore me if it looks stupid. Better still, join me and let’s have a good time jumping together for I probably wouldn’t even care much about what you think. Deep down, I will most likely be gleaming with joy and pride for having the “balls” to jump on a pedestrian bridge instead of worrying about it collapsing.
“Fuck Everything And Run!” is now a thing of the past and the way forward now would be to “Face Everything And Respond!”
In the song “Two Steps Behind”, Def Leppard reminded the whole world that “you can run but you can never hide from the shadow that’s hanging deep inside….” As freaky as it might seem, there’s a whole load of truth in that and what makes it even freakier is the fact that not a single bit of it seems surreal.
I don’t even know where to start if I had to list down all my fears but ‘acrophobia’ or simply known as the fear of heights would definitely rank way up there for me. As a kid, crossing pedestrian bridges was a nightmare for I always had this conception that the bridge would collapse when I’m crossing over. As I grew older and crossed more pedestrian bridges (by force, not by choice for the other option was to get rolled over by cars travelling at 80km/h), I started to realize that it wasn’t that bad afterall. Not having any bridges collapsed as yet while I’m crossing over does make it easier but that doesn’t change the fact that crossing pedestrian bridges had always been as extreme as it gets for me when it comes to height.
Now that I have started clearing my closet, this reminds me of the incident when I chose to be sneered by my friends rather than cross a suspension bridge while we were on vacation. Despite it having been so long ago, I still do get “shit” from my mates from time to time but I’ve somehow got acclimatized to that. In fact, I had started getting comfortable with it, knowing that they will always have something to laugh at when they’re trying to pick on me. Afterall, there are certain things in life that can never be changed and if we can’t or are not willing to do anything about it, the next best thing is to shut up and acknowledge defeat. The “fear” would differ for every individual and acrophobia was probably my biggest nemesis.
Nonetheless, I started seeing the light at the end of the tunnel recently when I was “convinced” to get onto a “Tower of
Terror” ride in a theme park. For the clueless, the “Tower of Terror” is one of those rides where you are strapped onto a seat that rises like 150 feet high before it just drops in a matter of seconds. I had always wondered why people would want to put themselves through so much pain and queue up to get onto a ride where your heart gets disjointed from your body at the point of “the drop”. Well, that had always been my perception until after I’ve been on it myself and now that I can proudly claim that I’m one of those “extremists” who has tackled that ride, I don’t think I would have any reservations going onto another one of such rides again. Heck, I’m even thinking of going bungee jumping next!Having gone on and on with a dull story, the point I’m getting to is that the best way to deal with fear is to confront it heads on. I’m sure we’ve heard of others mentioning this but there is always an apprehension to do so. As corny as it might sound, life is short and we should not live to regret anything or be left wondering “what if”. One of the things I value deeply is the need to live everyday as if it’s the last. The next time I cross a pedestrian bridge; I would probably stop in the middle, jump a couple of times and look over. If you happen to come across me doing it, just ignore me if it looks stupid. Better still, join me and let’s have a good time jumping together for I probably wouldn’t even care much about what you think. Deep down, I will most likely be gleaming with joy and pride for having the “balls” to jump on a pedestrian bridge instead of worrying about it collapsing.
“Fuck Everything And Run!” is now a thing of the past and the way forward now would be to “Face Everything And Respond!”
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