"I laugh in the face of danger." -Simba (or something to that effect...)

Don't we all wish we could make that statement and still be being honest with ourselves and our peers? I know I most certainly do. I often wish that I wasn't afraid of some of the dopey things I'm afraid of: snakes and spiders (most people are only afraid of one and not the other- but I'm scared of both...); upset girls and angry mothers (lol); cowlicks like Alfalfa's; germs...boy, those things creep me out.... So this week I decided to focus on fear, and how it is that some people are scared of somethings while other people simply aren't.

As I was contemplating on my topic, my mind rested on an experience I had while I was on one of my many adventures in foreign lands. This time I was back in Morocco (that's in Africa) in the High Atlas Mountains staying with the native Berber peoples in the small, mountain town of Ait Lekak. On this fateful day, I was out on a hike with a bunch of native kids (between the ages of 8 and 15). We were having the time of our lives, mocking each other because of our inability to pronounce each other's languages and my low tolerance for African heat, when an enormous, black asp slithered out of some rocks 6 inches from my foot. Now for those of you who don't know what an asp is, it is a very poisonous snake (which I already told you I am terrified of) that is native to North Africa, and is the legendary snake that Cleopatra used to kill herself. Now when this snake slid out right in front of me and right next to me, I, naturally, freaked. I was hollering and screaming, horrified that I would be bit, wouldn't be able to make it to the nearest hospital in time (which was several hours away in Marrakech), and would surely...drop dead. That, of course, was my initial reaction...screaming for my life. Now, if you haven't figured it out yet, I didn't get bitten, because I'm obviously not dead...yet. But boy I was wishing I was dead when I came back to my senses. All around me those little Berber kids were laughing their heads off, pointing fingers at the wimpy American who's afraid of a snake. Yeah. I was totally embarrased.

But then I realized that they weren't afraid like I was because they are always around those snakes. They're a factor those kids have come to realize exists in their lives, and they've just gotten used to it. Easy as that.

When we are faced constantly with factors that can spur fear deep in some people, we have a tendency to just get used to that factor. When I lived in Kansas, I got used to tornados and tornado warnings after I heard the tornado siren after the hundredth time. I'm not afraid of tornados because I was used to being around them when I was young.

So, the key to overcoming your fears is to live around them long enough that they don't scare you but leave before you get bit or stung or sucked up or screamed at or lose a limb, etc., etc., etc., etc. That's your easiest way to overcome your fears!