“He who fears he will suffer, already suffers because he fears.” –Michel de Montaigne

Fear- an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat. (Defined by the Oxford English Dictionary)

I remember growing up how much my dad loved watching scary movies. He would seemingly wait until all light of day was lost to the night, and only then would he place a tape into the VCR. I recall playing safely in my room and bolting to his side out of sheer panic at the laugh of Chucky or the scrape of Freddy’s clawed glove against the steel pipes of his nightmare factory emitting from the living room. I would then sit with him in the glow of the T.V. and black all around us the rest of the night in horror of whatever scenes that the Hollywood dread-manufacturers could dream up to keep me awake for every night of the next month; but it was just recently that I realized something. When my ears heard whatever it was those nights to catalyze a sprint, I never ran away from the hazard. It was always toward the direction of the thing that brought on my fear that I scurried. Yes, I sat through an hour and a half of visual torture afterwards; but I endured it. I then lost some sleep and then lived the rest of my life up to now perfectly fine. I have grown up and am very happily married with a son, two dogs, and a house like many other people. I don’t really sit up all night afraid of boogeymen under the bed or in the closet very often. I faced some fear and came out of it without too much damage.