The other day, I had a realization:
It's so easy to be afraid of everything.
I mean, I used to think panophobics were just people who needed serious help, but maybe they're on to something.
We can't predict anything for sure. Nothing in this world is 100%, get your money back satisfaction guaranteed. You would probably give someone a weird look if they asked you how the victims of 9/11 knew there was going to be a terrorist attack on their country. No one says things like, "I just knew the twin towers were going to fall. I just felt it." Because no one did.
You don't always get "gut feelings." Your body can't magically sense whether this is going to be your last day on earth, or if you'll live to see another sunrise.
But then there are the times when you do get that churny, butterfly feeling in your stomach. Something is going to happen. You just know it.
And usually, nothing does.
So how are you supposed to tell when you're going to be right and when you're going to be wrong? How do you know if you're going to get hit by a bus, or walk freely across the street without a scratch on your face? You can't know.
You just can't.
I don't know the exact probability or anything, but it is a fact: things can and will go wrong.
And you never know when, where, how or why.
So why get up in the morning? As soon as you open your eyes, a bug might fly into one and blind you. Or if you make it past that, if you try to get out of your bed and fall accidentally, you could break a bone. Or be paralyzed, or even die. Every time you put a foot in front of another, you run the risk of falling down and hurting or even killing yourself.
Why do we ever walk out on the street? That's where drive-by shootings occur. Any Tom, Dick or Harry could come up to you and punch you in the nose. Heck, a plane could come and make a crater right where you were just standing.
If you acted under the realization that anything could happen at any moment, you may never move a muscle. You might not speak, blink. You may even stop breathing.
But you don't.
We don't.
Why?
We know that all of this is possible. People are murdered, children are lost, acts of terrorism are being committed, planes crash, boats sink, people die from just falling down or hitting their heads in the shower.
So why don't we run screaming for our mothers and fathers? Why don't we hide under our covers until we're 90?
I call it the Bird Disease Phenomenon.
When a child sees a feather on the ground, he will inevitably pick it up. Why shouldn't he? Feathers are beautiful and elegant and children especially love them. But adults nearby usually respond to the feather-collecting with a, "Don't pick that up." When the child asks why, the adult will usually say, "It has all sorts of...bird diseases on it or something." The child doesn't care. He will rub the brightly colored barbs of the feather with his short, grubby fingers. He might even stick it into his cap.
We know that terrible things happen in the world. The majority of us know that these things could happen to us. But we also know that every day a baby is born. A child laughs, people get married. Someone pays off their debt or buys their dream house. Some Hollywood film or another inspires the next Meryl Streep. Every day people fall in love.
There has to be a balance. We can't live our lives like nothing can ever touch us, nor can we sit and wait to be shot or robbed or mugged. We have to live aware of what we have, of what we want and what we need. We have to be careful, but not too much so that we can't enjoy anything.
We have to live with hope.
It's so easy to be afraid of everything.
I mean, I used to think panophobics were just people who needed serious help, but maybe they're on to something.
We can't predict anything for sure. Nothing in this world is 100%, get your money back satisfaction guaranteed. You would probably give someone a weird look if they asked you how the victims of 9/11 knew there was going to be a terrorist attack on their country. No one says things like, "I just knew the twin towers were going to fall. I just felt it." Because no one did.
You don't always get "gut feelings." Your body can't magically sense whether this is going to be your last day on earth, or if you'll live to see another sunrise.
But then there are the times when you do get that churny, butterfly feeling in your stomach. Something is going to happen. You just know it.
And usually, nothing does.
So how are you supposed to tell when you're going to be right and when you're going to be wrong? How do you know if you're going to get hit by a bus, or walk freely across the street without a scratch on your face? You can't know.
You just can't.
I don't know the exact probability or anything, but it is a fact: things can and will go wrong.
And you never know when, where, how or why.
So why get up in the morning? As soon as you open your eyes, a bug might fly into one and blind you. Or if you make it past that, if you try to get out of your bed and fall accidentally, you could break a bone. Or be paralyzed, or even die. Every time you put a foot in front of another, you run the risk of falling down and hurting or even killing yourself.
Why do we ever walk out on the street? That's where drive-by shootings occur. Any Tom, Dick or Harry could come up to you and punch you in the nose. Heck, a plane could come and make a crater right where you were just standing.
If you acted under the realization that anything could happen at any moment, you may never move a muscle. You might not speak, blink. You may even stop breathing.
But you don't.
We don't.
Why?
We know that all of this is possible. People are murdered, children are lost, acts of terrorism are being committed, planes crash, boats sink, people die from just falling down or hitting their heads in the shower.
So why don't we run screaming for our mothers and fathers? Why don't we hide under our covers until we're 90?
I call it the Bird Disease Phenomenon.
When a child sees a feather on the ground, he will inevitably pick it up. Why shouldn't he? Feathers are beautiful and elegant and children especially love them. But adults nearby usually respond to the feather-collecting with a, "Don't pick that up." When the child asks why, the adult will usually say, "It has all sorts of...bird diseases on it or something." The child doesn't care. He will rub the brightly colored barbs of the feather with his short, grubby fingers. He might even stick it into his cap.
We know that terrible things happen in the world. The majority of us know that these things could happen to us. But we also know that every day a baby is born. A child laughs, people get married. Someone pays off their debt or buys their dream house. Some Hollywood film or another inspires the next Meryl Streep. Every day people fall in love.
There has to be a balance. We can't live our lives like nothing can ever touch us, nor can we sit and wait to be shot or robbed or mugged. We have to live aware of what we have, of what we want and what we need. We have to be careful, but not too much so that we can't enjoy anything.
We have to live with hope.
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