Hey folks! First off I want to apologize for not posting in what? Has it been two weeks now?! Yikes! (Other than giveaways, of course. ;) ) We have been super busy driving back and forth roughly 4 hours round trip to our future home fixing some things on it before we are able to get financing/close on it. Long story. I'm hoping to have a new "Trials and Tribulations: Building a Homestead" update next week. I've also recently gotten back into writing stories for fun, so that's been taking up a bit of my time too. (I haven't even had much time for that with all of this house stuff. :( ) Other than that, I really just haven't had anything to post about, to be honest! Now, going back to the house situation somewhat...
In case you haven't read any of my "Building a Homestead" posts, we are about to move to a house in the country, hopefully by the end of the month. This has been a goal of ours for awhile now. However, as much as I've been looking forward to living in the country, I am not fond of snakes. In fact, I'm pretty sure my past disdain for snakes would qualify as phobic. I used to not even be able to watch them on tv without my heart rate increasing and feeling panicky. Needless to say, I'd either look away or immediately change the channel if able. It got so bad at one point that I couldn't even enjoy walks in the woods, and if the trails were narrow with tall grass next to them, it was out of the question. I even remember stopping a walk in the Great Smoky Mountains short on our honeymoon because I was freaking out too much. (Even though bears would have been a more realistic concern!) There was even a time when my mom and I both refused to continue walking down a trail at a state park we were vacationing at because a long black snake crossed our path and proceeded to slither up a tree.
So, what does this have to do with anything? Well, as I was tromping around the yard (with roughly 2 foot tall grass or more), woods, and brambles at our new house yesterday, I realized how far I had come with my snake aversion over the last six years. That's how long it has been since our honeymoon (almost, in less than a week!) and that may have been the turning point for me to "get over it" for all I remember. But now I am so glad I started making a conscious effort to get over my snake phobia, no matter the reason. I missed nature and being able to go for hikes in the woods without feeling like I was going to have a panic attack at any second.
How did I manage to get over my phobia without professional help, you might be wondering? Short answer is I made a conscious effort, like I mentioned. Little by little, I forced myself to get over it. Did I make myself look at a slideshow of snake pictures every day? No, but I did force myself not to change the channel if I happened across a nature show that included snakes. I would tell myself it was silly to be afraid of them because it wasn't as if they could come through the screen! Little by little, I started venturing back outdoors more. Was I extremely paranoid at first? Absolutely, but whenever I started to feel panicky I would try to focus on something else, such as my fishing pole instead of whatever critter was rustling the undergrowth nearby. (More than likely a grasshopper, or something else equally ridiculous.)
Do I love snakes now? No, they're definitely still not my favorite, but I can cope with the fact that they are out there and that I will still probably see them while working or playing outdoors in the future. And, while I was walking around in my husband's muck boots at the new house and using them as a sort of security blanket, I still think that's saying a lot about how well I am doing with my whole "snake thing". (I'll try to remember to get a picture of how tall the grass is. It's ridic! John even joked about waiting for a tiger to come pouncing out at us. lol) I'm looking forward to enjoying many more years of my favorite things now: being outdoors in my garden/yard/property in general, hiking, fishing, and more!
What are you afraid of? Do you have any phobias? How did you overcome them or do you still struggle with them?
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