WONDERING WHY ONE WITHERS??

I had no reason to fear bats, and as
I grew and discovered how many people
are deathly afraid of them, it made me
wonder about fear. Whether it all starts
with the people who raise us.
from: Missing May
by:Cynthia Rylant

I often come home after a hike-(with LOTS of coral dust between my toes) and feel grateful that I am not strapped by horrible, debilitating fears and phobias.

Over the years I have met quite a few 'hikers' that have a great fear of snakes. I suppose this is quite common and possibly justified. I dont understand it, but it doesnt mean that I dont try and be compassionate about it.

A big ol rattler sharing the path with you is not an experience one goes looking for!!! But I have been hiking for years now, and I have only come across 5-6 snakes in that time. But, whats really disturbing to me is to see these fears completely curtail, or paralyze some hikers to ever venturing out of doors!! (First off, didnt they KNOW they were coming to a desert environment BEFORE they signed on??!!) Their experience in our beautiful desert is tainted by their fear.

We had a hiker not too long ago that was petrified of lizards. Not just in the chance of seeing them, but just knowing they shared the sand with us was more than she could handle. After the first morning, as she cried and gasped for breath and begged us to take her back home; we never saw her again...outside the enclosed facility. Poor,poor, crazy girl. YES indeed- I am passing judgment. COME ON... A little blue tailed lizard will do nobody any harm, unless your a bug!!
It is indeed hard for me to remain compassionate to those fears that make no sense.

Guess what porphyrophobia is the fear of!!?? You'll NEVER guess...not in a million years (Unless of course you have this mental disorder)... its the fear of the color purple!! Come on now...whats that really about?
Some other fears:

There is the fear of books, and color and ferns and even knees!!
I am so grateful that I am not incapacitated by any such seemingly irrational fear.
I found a list of phobias the other day, HERE.
It has made me all the more grateful for my good mental health, but it made me also question the workings of our brains. Could it really be possible to be crippled by the fear of the figure 8!!!????
Snap Out of It, for pete sakes!!!!!!!!!