what is your greatest fear? really. that secret one you never talk about. you’re almost embarrassed to say it. it seems so…petty.
i know i have one. i’ll share mine at the end.
what is your greatest fear? really. that secret one you never talk about. you’re almost embarrassed to say it. it seems so…petty.
i know i have one. i’ll share mine at the end.
Comments
64 responses to “confessional: fear”
I definitely have a fear of failure… that and tearing off those little tags on furniture that say “Do Not Remove Under Penalty Of The Law”… SCARY!!!
that i will never achieve true independence because i allow my mind to be held captive by other forms of fear and anxiety.
animals
tarantulas. a HAIRY spider? no thank you.
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other
people won’t feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of
God that is within us.
It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.
-Marianne Williamson
I’ve already experienced it. Condemnation.
That what I’ve been thinking is wrong after all. I’m usually right, that it’s wrong, and then I’m afraid that I’m wrong about that. Then I’m afraid others will catch on.
Did I say that out loud?
I’m afraid that the brussel sprouts in my garden aren’t doing to well this year! :D
On a more serious note, my greatest fear would have to be stagnation….Am I growing, both personally and spiritually? Am I learning? Have I stopped moving forward?
Ok, you know people who feel totally called and committed to something, but they’re not very good at it- EVEYONE KNOWS but NO ONE has the heart to tell them – I’m afraid That I might be one of thoes people.
I have the fear of everything falling out of my pockets while in a movie theater. While watching a movie I’ll check my wallet/phone/keys several times. Weird.
clowns….
Actually, I’m more afraid of not doing what the Lord wants me to do. Not being sure i know what it is. Feeling an urgency here to just know!
My biggest fear is to actually sit down, be still and deal with my feelings. That may sound strange, but that is true. I would rather keep doing things and stay busy than stop and have to deal with various issues.
My other would be having to have Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer as my attorney in any case.
That something bad will happen to one of my kids. Oh, and what if that “something bad” is me! I don’t think it is, but what if.
I’m also afraid of driving of driving over hills. What if there is someone in my lane on the other side. weird.
I thought I was afraid of flying but it turns out I’m not.
I used to have this recurring dream in elementary school about showing up to school naked and the whole school was pointing and laughing at me…
…as an adult, it’s still the same: being rejected for who I really am.
even though I know it is part of the process…I fear failing.
I’m afraid the IVF won’t work. I hope it does.
I’m terrified of having children. It’s mostly a selfish fear, I think: that my life as I know it will be over (which, I’m sure that is what happens), and that I’ll never do anything with my life (which, I’m sure is something of an unrealistic fear). Anyone else have that fear?
1.) Failing in the eyes of others – a superior, teacher, boss, authority figure. Not accomplishing what I was told to do or assigned to do and it effecting others down the line – then getting in trouble for it and reprimanded for it.
2.) Loss of pride or respect – failing to create a good first impression and then keep that up.
3.) LOUD LARGE boat horns that blow unexpectedly. When I was 3, I was holding my 16 year old sisters hand at the big freighter docs in South Florida and one of them blew it’s horn SO loud I freaked, grabbed her hand, pulled it up to my mouth and bit her hand as hard as I could. I think she still has a scar there today and it’s 41 years later!
I fear that I am going to fail as a husband if I were to marry again. Hence the reason why I am not even concern with dating.
Also clowns and dolls. They will both kill you in your sleep.
Don’t believe me? Watch just about any direct-to-video movie.
i fear someone won’t like me…
(and “small people” clowns)
That the dream i have – walking around a busy church and realizing i am wearing no clothes – is the truth.
Well, it’s NOT clowns—I used to be one in college! ;)
Greatest fear—definitely rejection. Has happened way too many times…which of course leads to being afraid to trust, or step out and take a chance, or anyone getting to know me, or….oh man, I think I better stop typing…
that people will find out that i watch The Hills on MTV.
Fears that are caused by a threat to our security – either physical or emotional.
That my loved ones, friends and family, will fall away from their faith in Christ . . . or never choose to follow Him.
Getting too attached to someone just to watch them leave.
And inadequacy in every aspect of life.
clowns, contaminated water and failure. in ministry the pressure you put on yourself is ridiculous! if there arent so and so many people there on sunday then somethings wrong or why is johnny walking away from God?
losing a child
Mental Illness. When I can’t trust my own mind.
#1 – Something terrible happening to one of my daughters. HUGE. To the point of psychosis (I don’t actually know what that word means but it sounds right)
Distant second – that no matter what I do, I will never change in the sinful areas of my life… and I will give up trying.
nooc
death … my own or anyone close to me.
fearing that i’m never good enough.
The unknown.
that people won’t like me.
Biggest fear? That I’ll fail. In life and in ministry.
Biggest fear: discovering that I’ve been doing ministry in a way that actually displeases God. (see Amos 5:21-23)
Biggest irrational fear: that I will accidentally drive a car into a body of water, like off a bridge or embankment.
Biggest irony: that I have to drive along a bank of a small lake to get to my house.
Biggest fear tucked away in the back of my mind = being raped.
I try to tell myself it’s an irrational one.
It probably has to do with a sixth-grade friend of mine being raped in our church’s parking lot years ago.
That those who know me least will respect me the most.
being alone.
The fear of losing my self-control and discipline in life and ministry. (:
I am afraid that I am unlovable.
I am afraid of being not used by God
That noone will ever truly understand me.
Sitting at the judgment seat and NOT hearing the words “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
to have everyone find out I’m a phony and lose everything…family, house, job, church, to be abandoned by God………..truly, that’s my fear.
People not liking me…but I want that to change…
That I’ll jump off of a really talk building or mountain before I realize what I’ve done – like it will be an impulse to do something daring or something.
that I’m not good enough- for God, for ministry, for love, for anything.
note: i also know this is a big, fat lie for me to pray against dailly!!
My fear is that I won’t be able to provide for my family. After losing my ministry job to church politics and only working full-time with a baby on the way in September, my fear is that my faith will not be strong enough to allow God to provide the protection and security we need.
Anytime I get an itch or a twitch or or something I go thru the whole “oh crap, it’s cancer, it’s back, I’m toast, i’ll have to go thru chemo and waste away in front of my wife and kids and be nothing but a burden on them, scarring them forever” trip.
That fear usually subsides, though, and runs a distant second to my fear that my shortcomings as a father will have a negative impact on my kids, and their kids.
Being insignificant.
Too tired to fear.
That I will lose my kids, that they will become seriously ill, that my oldest will not be able to overcome her mother’s shortcomings.
Otherwise, I’m afraid of falling down the stairs in public and being completely unprepared to lead worship and saying dumb things to the congregation. Perhaps there’s a running theme.
death…
oh ye of little faith
Serious: being lonely. Not being alone…but being lonely. There is a difference.
Bizarre: Spontaneous Human Combustion. Yes, I’m serious. I saw an episode of “That’s Incredible” when I was a kid that detailed this, and I have been afraid of it ever since.
Unusual, but still possible: taking a drink out of a public drinking fountain, somebody accidentally bumps into me and I knock out my teeth on the hard metal guard.
Mentally ill: stickiness on my hands. Like a raccoon, I just cannot stand to have anything sticky or foreign on my hands. I don’t think I’m OCD, I just like to have my hands cleaned. Constantly.
i’m afraid of being alone. and that i’m unlovable. and that nobody will love me because of my fat bits!
i’m also afraid that nobody will love me because of my job.
and losing my teeth. that’s a big one right there.
not ever opening up to someone that i love. That i would never truly feel the freedom to be honest.
Greatest fearS Being sick, illness….of it all being for nothing, always being alone, of not getting over fear, not becoming who God intends me to be
Sock puppets. Oh wait, that’s Homer Simpson’s fear, not mine.
Seriously, mine would be 1) rejection and 2) one of my daughters dying.
P.S. Love your blog. I found it through Kevin Bussey’s. I used to have emotionally unstable cats. One at cotton, so you didn’t leave your clothes lying around. Seriously. And one was possessed by Satan. Now we have two not-as-unstable dogs.
Being unlovable…not good enough.
I would wake up during the night and find my children would be kidnapped. They would stop breathing during the night. They both have asthma
that on balance i will take more life than I give…
my greatest fear is that i won’t do what God is calling me to do, because I can’t figure it out in time or because i’m afraid to put my family on the line
My fear is that I will be unable to fulfill my destiny. Where do I go from here, What do I do now, Why am I always failing, What What What What!
Is God pleased with me and what I am doing or attempting to do?