Um, boo right back at ya!

I lay on the ground and waited for the end to come. The monsters were going to get me. They had me now, but nothing happened. I waited a few minutes more. Still nothing. Finally I got up off the ground, pulled my pajamas up so I wouldn’t trip a second time and got into bed.

I was a little kid and had woken in the middle of the night. I was scared of the dark and everything that might scare me, everything from the monsters underneath my bed to the ones hiding behind every corner in our house. Unfortunately, I had to go to the bathroom. I ran to the bathroom and did my business. On the way back to my room, I tripped on the carpet and fell on the floor.

I figured I was done for, the monsters were all going to jump on me and eat me up, but, when nothing happened, I started to think that something must be up. Either they were as dumb as our neighbor’s dog or maybe they weren’t really real. Could they really be mirage? A crazy figment of my imagination that I dreamt up on my own? A fake?

I write more about the fear of the dark this week in my story, Things That Go Bump in the Night, on the Heart of the Matter. I find it helpful to think about the things that we used to worry about as kids and how we’ve evolved and matured as adults.

Yes, our worries take on more adult tone now. But we’re still susceptible to hyperbole and exaggeration when we avoid facing our life’s problems and challenges in a healthy way. Which makes me wonder: How have our fears changed over time? Do we face them head on or do we face them like a child, through avoidance? What about you? What was your kid worry? What do you worry about now?

Related Story:

Things that go Bump in the Night on the Heart of the Matter