Fear

This week with my students we talked about fear a lot, what with Halloween coming up and all. We had an interesting discussion about whether fear was in our imagination or whether it was real, and how we could differentiate the two. Fear is totally healthy when it warns us of imminent danger, but when it eats at us and it is all in our heads, how do we control it? My tricks for my five-year-old students were to:
1. imagine you're in a nice place
2. sing really loudly

3. laugh at your fear (this trick is the one used in Harry Potter to scare away Boggarts)
4. turn on the lights
5. look away (if it's a scary movie)

As adults though, we are faced with different kinds of imaginary fears. I often worry about horrible things happening to people if they don't show up on time (maybe they got caught in a car accident, maybe they got kidnapped, etc.). I also sometimes worry about my own inadequacy. These imaginary fears we have as adults are more difficult to control it seems. Staying positive and keeping in touch with reality definitely help, as well as having good people around to reassure you (my husband telling me I'm the best really helps).

What are you afraid of?