Only thing we have to fear is fear itself

So, over the past couple weeks, there's been one commercial constantly running on TV. It's a preview for the movie, The Lovely Bones. Years ago, my sister tried to get me to read the book, but after learning it was about a ghost, I was all, "Thanks, but... it'll be a cold day in hell before I read that." But anyway, this commercial has a creepy girl saying stupid shit like:

"My name is Suzy. I was 14 years old... when I was MURDERED!"

Dude, shut UP. She's dead, right? Does she not know that she scares the crap out of me? And the damn commercial is on ALL. THE. TIME. God. It was on the other night while I was watching TV in bed and then, of course, I couldn't fall asleep.

I think you can gather that I have a fear of ghosts. It started a long time ago when I saw an awful movie called The Exorcist. I was 10, we were in California, visiting family. I have no idea what possessed (ahh! possession is what scares me!) us to watch this movie, but I didn't sleep for a week. And my brother (older brother, I might add) slept on the floor of my parents' bedroom for the rest of that trip (sorry, (brother), for giving away your secret).

Aaanyway, so yeah, ghosts. Or rather, mean-spirited ghosts/demons who want to possess us.

But this commercial got me thinking about my other fears. When I was younger, I had about a million of them. Thunderstorms (or more specifically, the tornado that would tear up our house and kill us), men with facial hair (all men with facial hair are hiding something), meatloaf (you can't trust a loaf made of meat).

Over the years, I have conquered most of these fears. I saw the movie Twister and decided if those people can get that close to a tornado and not get sucked up and die, I'm certainly not going to die. Facial hair? Well, when I started dating my husband, he had some silly soul patch on his chin. I made him get rid of it. I'll argue that it was because it looked stupid not because of any fear. Still don't like meatloaf, but that's just common sense.

I think I have now narrowed my fears to 3:

• Ghosts - which we've covered (a little too much for comfort, actually)
• Throwing up - I don't know anyone who really enjoys it, but I also don't know anyone who avoids it like I do
• Heights

Heights. This is an oldie but a goodie. Not sure how it started, none of my siblings caught it. But I do know my first airplane ride was not a pleasant experience for anyone involved... or within a 5 mile radius of me.

My mom decided my first ever plane ride should be to Greece. I was 8. Why don't we pick a destination further away? I hear Bora Bora is awesome. While boarding my (second-ever) flight at JFK, I pitched one hell of a fit. I screamed that my dad would come get me and I was NOT getting on that plane.

Mom or the flight attendant jammed some white pill down my throat and away we went.

Since then, my flying experiences have been less traumatic, but not much less. I still panic and I once skipped a spring break trip to the Bahamas the morning of my flight (again, very sorry, sister). You'd think I'd be more rational about it, with my brother being a pilot and all.

But my fear of heights is not limited to flying. Tall buildings... you'll never catch me in a hot air balloon... ski lifts. I was in the ski club in high school and I hated riding the ski lift. Just thinking now about how high you are off the ground makes my legs tingle. And my friends are trying to get me to go skiing this weekend. For. Get. It. What's wrong with a little bowling and a lot of drinking?!

With 2 of my fears surrounding me this week, it's a wonder I ever sleep.