You are not afraid, you just think you are...

Hi, Duffy Brown here. I was writing...what else is new...and I decided to make Reagan, my main character in the Consignment Shop mysteries, afraid of thunderstorms. She always seems pretty brave to me, going in scary places to find the killer because a loved one or friend is in trouble. So, I thought I’d send her a curveball and make her afraid of something that really isn’t rational.
I know thunderstorms can be really dangerous especially if you’re standing under a tree with a golf club in your hand or you happen to live in California these last few weeks, but other than that they are mostly harmless.
Personally I’m not afraid of thunderstorms. I don’t like when they snap out the electricity but I’m okay. What I’m afraid of is heights. I can fly in a plane...I just pretend I’m sitting in my living room reading a book and have a bunch of strangers over to visit.
And I can climb a ladder and go up in an elevator but the rub is when there is nothing between me and say a thousand-foot dropoff. I’m a little better than I used to be, I spent a thousand bucks getting there. I went to his psychologist and she had me watching flashing lights go back and forth on a screen and she told me to put my feet flat on the floor and thumbs and forefingers together and think I’m not afraid.
As stupid as this sounds it did help. And since I was going hiking with my kids I needed to get over the height thing at least a little bit. Having Mother sitting on a trail praying she gets eaten by the bears ‘cause she’s so afraid is not good. And yes, I did that.
Another thing I’m not fond of is bugs. I remember once calling my husband to come home and kill the thing. He couldn’t of course, so I dropped a big can of tomatoes on the creepy-crawly till my hero arrived. My husband is gone so now it’s me and the bugs and I’ve learned to kill them myself. It’s the least of all evils. If I don’t kill it, it will hunt me down in the middle of the night and crawl of me. Lord have mercy!!
So what about you? Are you afraid of something that there is no real reason to be afraid of? Have you gotten over it? Got any suggestions for the rest of us?

Hugs, Duffy  www.duffybrown.com