# 167 Courage is not the absense of fear...

Lately, I've been confronted with one of my biggest fears.  Roaches.  Specifically, FR's (flying roaches).  I've seen three in my house in the last week and I've had to kill them all.  It wasn't pretty-- fly swatters, magazines, roach spray, shoes flying every which way, screams from me, silent disapproval from Parker, fear emanating from all around me.  But I did it.  I killed them.  And I sprayed every single inch of this house with as much bug spray as I could stand.  Thinking about these FR's made me think of other fears I have.  Mostly irrational ones.  Here are the two biggest ones I have.  I think about these a lot.


Driving down the road in my car, and the car in front of me throws out a cigarette, and as I run over it, it gets lodged in the underside of my vehicle and ignites, starting a fire.  I am terrified of this happening.  Has this ever happened to anyone?  Or did I make this up?  Regardless, its a thought every single time I see someone throw out a cigarette, which is often.   Those smokers have less regard for the beauty of our roadways than they do for their own well-being!  I'm positive I read about this somewhere.

Ok, I just googled this and apparently, I am not the only one with this concern.  Fortunately, it seems that the Mythbuster guys have proven this one wrong.  Unfortunately, it does seem that another possibility is a lit cigarette coming through your sunroof and catching something in your car on fire.  Great, I've traded one concern for another. 

My second concern-- hitting my head on a nail, screw or something pointy.  For example, whenever there is a nail sticking out of the wall, or a pointy piece of furniture, I think, all the time, about losing my balance and hitting my forehead on this, it puncturing my head and causing me to die.  I have a chest of drawers in my room, and its edges are pointy, and everytime I walk past it, or am getting dressed near or, or anything, this occurs to me.  Its a scary way to die.  Especially living alone.  Without one of those Med Alert bracelets.  I think about this everytime I spot an old nail or screw in the wall-- what if I tripped, and lost my balance and hit my forehead?  Would I die?  Would it poke through my forehead?  Or just leave a red mark?  Is my forehead strong enough to withstand this type pressure?  Its very scary. 

So these are my two biggest, hopefully irrational fears.  What about you guys?  Any suggestions on ways to avoid these things?  Any fears of your own?  Any jokes at my expense?