Writer’s Workshop: What Are Your Biggest Fears?

I happened to stumble across Mama’s Losin’ It today and saw that she had some writing prompts posted. I’ve been so busy with campaign work that I have not written from the heart as often as I’d like. Today, I chose the writing prompt about sharing my biggest fears. The full prompt was to list 6 and share one in more detail. I also searched for an inspirational photo or graphic for this post and found the one above. As a Scorpio, these fears are very true for me. Here are the first 6 that came to mind:

1. Speaking in front of large groups

2. Drowning

3. Divorce (My parents did when I was 7)

4. Losing a child

5. Losing my husband

6. Losing our home

Isn’t it funny that I wrote these just as they popped into my head. How on earth can I be more afraid of public speaking or drowning than losing my family members? I am hopeful that subconsciously I feel this is less likely to happen.

I’ve decided to share my fear of drowning. I actually love to swim, but I had a near death experience when I was about 7 or 8 where my short life actually flashed before my eyes.

I was swimming at a beach in Southampton, NY. The waves were high, but I was a pretty strong swimmer. Suddenly, the undertow pulled me and a friend out too deep. She was just enough ahead of me to dive under the coming waves, but they kept crashing down on my head. Every time I would come up for a breath, I would see her diving through and see the next wave about to crash down upon me. It was such a frightening feeling. I remember counting 8 waves hitting me and crashing me to the sand below.

When the 9th wave hit me, I really thought I was going to die. I did not think I could take another wave. I was scraped along the bottom of the ocean. I saw my life flash before my eyes like a slide show. In a last flash of consciousness, I decided to stick my feet in the ground and try to stand. That last wave had actually pushed me far enough into shore that the water was only up to my hips. I stumbled out of the surf. My thighs were scraped and bleeding.

I looked up to see my grandfather. Guess what he was doing? Laughing! I was so angry! An experienced ocean swimmer, he thought the entire thing was just hysterical. I’m sure he had no idea the impact it had on me. The memory is still so strong today.

What are your biggest fears?

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