Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Fears and Survival instincts



Nice older truck

 My first work truck, below is after Nephew Ted painted it for me.

Now…
Some people ‘know fear’. I remember an NFL coach who would not fly. When his team played away from home, the team flew but he always traveled by train due to a fear of flying

My sweetheart has a fear of flying, but she will fly. She has flown to Jordan without me. She flew to GITMO without me once. She flew several times with me, including Germany and Hawaii, but is never comfortable until the plane was safely on the ground.
 (My girl getting off the plane in gitmo once!, cute, huh?)

There are many real fears. I have been very outgoing in my life. Public speaking & crowds was my forte’. And except for deployments and a few hunting trips, Sherry and I are normally together 24/7.  With my hearing loss we have become tighter. Even today with Cochlear implants I don’t enjoy crowds and I get confused easily and am uncomfortable even with my interpreter. I don't remember fear, until the hearing loss.

A BIG FEAR I have is misunderstanding. Just simply consider driving directions, i.e. I ask the question before pulling into an intersection: “Is it clear your way?” You would be surprised how ‘GO’ and ‘NO’ sounds alike with noise around.

Stormy the feral cat, will allow me to pet her since I feed her. BUT if I approach her with something in my hand such as a coffee cup, she runs. I have never hurt her, but I think in the past someone has thrown something at her. It is a survival instinct, a real fear. Her survival instinct is triggered. I am not sure if that trust can ever be obtained with a feral animal.

I was taught humans are ‘animals’ (some more than others), and fears can be a part of life. I have a close friend who has a REAL fear of water, in his childhood some soothsayer told him to beware of deep water, death dwells there.

When we can’t overcome our fears, we must learn to live with them. In the church world I have heard people speak of prayer helping to overcome fears, both temp and permanent. I am sure my girl prays when she flies. Shucks she prays when I drive! LOL

Nite Shipslog

8 comments:

Mevely317 said...

How interesting!
Yes, I remember reading about that NFL coach; wishing I had the same luxury. Like Sherry, I've flown here and there but could never manage to relax.

Methinks that so-called 'soothsayer' should be shot for instilling that hogwash in your friend. All the same, aside from fear of cancer or dementia, the only fear that comes to mind is being underwater -- dependent on scuba tank to breathe. Oh, something else! Do you know, do sailors assigned to submarine duty have to pass a psychological test first? I can seriously see myself freaking out 'down there.'

Sorry, didn't mean to prattle on so long. Have a great day!

Chatty Crone said...

Gosh I think we all have some fears and it is quite normal - unless we don't do what we want to do or need to do. Like Sherry fears flying, but she will do it. You know what I mean?

betty said...

You are right in that we all have fears; we just need to find a way to be courageous and conquer them. So fears are easily for me to do that with than others. I'm a reluctant flier but I will fly if I have to.

Speaking of feral cats, last night we went out for some frozen yogurt. The lady in front of us in line started talking with us, asking if we lived in the area, etc. She said she had been in our area looking for a feral cat. She works with an organization that traps them, neuters/spays them, and releases them. They had reports of a mama cat with 8 kittens but when they went to look for her, they couldn't find her or the kittens. They weren't going to be giving up their efforts in locating her. The lady said the organization works with a lot of vets in the area that volunteer to do the spaying/neutering for free and a lot of them do 5-10 procedures a day. Phoenix has a feral cat problem!

betty

Lisa said...

I consider myself pretty brave. I'll try almost anything but as I get older, I find that I fear more. Is it fear or cautiousness?
I am afraid of spiders, snakes and speaking in front of people or a camera. I can be forced to anything I'm afraid of but I don't handle it well.
I am not afraid of flying but I am a little uneasy until we land. My man is afraid of water and flying so we stay on soil together.

Cute picture of Sherry.
Lisa

Susan Kane said...

Sherry is quite an adventurer! You're a lucky man.

Scared of snakes, for sure.

Rick Watson said...

Your spouse is a hottie.

I have a lot of fears, but one that haunts me is pooting in yoga class.
R

I'm mostly known as 'MA' said...

Yes, fear is a real and sometimes crippling thing for many people. I don't like heights at all but I've never had a fear of flying in a plane. I love to sit by a window and look around. They say we are safer in a plane than in a car. There are far less accidents. I'm one who believes that God is in control, so no fear here.

Dar said...

I don't particularly like high ladders, scaffolding but once I'm ' up there' I'm usually ok until I look down. Don't look down! I know the guy higher than I has hold of me but still skiddish. lol Bill doesn't like anything flying close around him, even a hummingbird. His brother locked him in the chicken coop with the Banties and the rooster pecked him pretty good. He was only 3-4 yrs. old so it left a longtime impression. He's getting a little better. At least he no longer tells me to ' fetch ' while bird hunting.
love that picture of Sherry. So cute.
love n' hugs from up north where it reached 80 today while I traded the heat of outdoors for the heat of the kitchen canning Rhubarb Sauce. So Good!