As cool as Night Safari was, the big news of the evening was my amazing effort to thwart a phobia – of snakes! As part of our private party, we were “treated” to close encounters with a stunning owl as well as boa constrictor. Literally, as we stood on a patio next to the herd of African cattle, Justin says to me, I hear there might be animals making their way to the party. “Cool!", I say. "I want it to be a tiger!”Oh, no , Avid Reader. It was a snake. At first glance, I bolted. Visceral and rapid, I was outta there. But then I thought to myself, “Self, life is about adventures. What a better story it would make to actually touch that strangling monster.”. And so, I started to make efforts to that end.
Amazingly, Avid Reader, my body and mind were not in sync. The closer I would get to the handler, the faster my heart would beat, the faster I lost my breath, the faster I sweat through my shirt. I literally *couldn’t* do it and I would have to step away saying, ‘this is not rational; this is totally irrational’. But I suppose that is what a phobia is and does. And I decided that I was going to control it.
So, I kept going back. Abetted by any number of folks watching this sh*t show, I was able to touch that serpent three times, before actually 'petting' its underside (much better; felt like shoe vs. scaly nastiness). Bottomline, I may have sweat through my shirt and acted the complete fool, but I was able to defeat my phobia in at least one small way. Best, I feel great. Better, stronger, faster.Yep, Todd 1. Snake 0.
1 comment:
great post. i am so proud of you. it's totally true, those fears are completely irrational. my husband is always amazed by my own irrational fear of snakes and how i act when i see one. i become a complete fool. but that's just what happens.
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