The 100 Years Club Installment #38: What I Fear

October is a great month for creating content.

After all, Halloween presents a great opportunity to talk about fear and fearlessness.

What I realized this year is that although I’ve been writing about the topic of fear for 20 years or so, my anxiety level is probably the lowest that it’s ever been in my life.

And I hear that a lot from other people >50.

So, dig deep (as in grave digging) and think about what really still scares the shit out of you.

For me, it’s still three main things (which I managed to wordsmith, so they all begin with F — I am never afraid of vocab challenges). The top fear factors are:

• Failure (in all aspects of my life)
• Fitness (as in health and mobility). Being able to see, hear, move, and explore until 120 is important to me and not totally within my control
• Feeling lonely and financially insecure

And then, of course, I have my totally irrational list of scary stuff like zombies, fire, and ventriloquist dummies and dolls who talk and wield knives.

But whether fears are rational or not, they are real.

They can keep us up at night, lead to health problems, and impact or paralyze the decisions we make at work and in life.

When you’re feeling that spooky feeling creep up on you…

1. Remember, you are not alone. This overview of fears among my peer group was oddly reassuring.
2. Breathe deeply and think rationally about the worst-case scenario and how you would deal with it. Remember all the times throughout your life that you worried about something, and the outcome was actually just fine.
3. Cortisol (the stress hormone) can really mess you up, so take steps to keep yours in balance. If you’re constantly spinning out on fear, consult a professional.

Attempt to avoid people and situations that you expect will freak you out. Unless, of course, they may ultimately benefit you in some way, in which case, put on your big-girl or big-boy pants and face that fear!

P.S. And, to ensure that my fear of no one listening to my podcast isn’t real, please listen and subscribe here.

Don’t be scared to click on these links!

	Fear stats & facts (which will either reassure or terrify you)
	Scary people throughout history
	Hate scary movies? Don’t watch these!
	How to overcome a fear of death