What is your most frightening memory? Mine is from way back in 1972. I was at the drive-in movie theater with my mom, dad, and younger brother when, in the intermission between movies, the trailer for a new movie The Return of Count Yorga projected on the screen. It scared the crap out of me and I had nightmares that night about it. For months I was afraid to turn out the lights and from that point on, I always hid under a blanket when previews came on at the drive-in.
Through the miracle of YouTube, I was able to find that trailer. You can view it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4-wdSpcx7M
It’s kind of funny how something so silly by today’s standard could frighten a 7-year-old decades ago. I guess looking at the clip now, I can understand, but with the passing of time, it’s almost humorous.
Sadly, I know lots of folks that go through life afraid of taking risks because of fear. It prevents them from ever succeeding and results in lots of self-fulfilling prophecies of failure. Interestingly enough, those fears are often based on imagined circumstance without a shred of credible proof it will happen.
Take some time and think about your greatest fear. Is it about something real and tangible or is it POTENTIAL outcome? Thank about people who fear flying. The chance of actually dying in a plane crash is far less than dying in a car wreck on the way to the airport. Actually I find it more frightening to have a short window of time between connecting flights. That normally DOES result in a bad outcome!
Sometimes the things we fear most aren’t that scary when you shine a little light on them. In the case of Count Yorga, it just took several decades of dealing with real-life scary stuff to take the fear out!
This week, take some time to list out the fears you’re feeling right now. List them out and next to each one, ask yourself if the fear is based on tangible fact or imagined hype. I’m willing to bet your list will get real short!
If you think about it, there are plenty of naysayers right now calling for a dreadful 2010. What are they basing it on? Certainly nothing I can tangibly hold onto. I’m ready for a breakout year and I hope you are too!