POEM: Living with Courage: The Flip Side of Fear

When I’m scared of the dark I whistle or sing,
Which fixates and pixates each scary thing.
The scaries are lonely, but not when I’m there.
They know that my music means that I care.

I’m scared to go flying up high in a plane,
I’ve learned a neat trick that alleviates strain.
I plan farther ahead and ride on a train.

If I see some blood! Here’s a remedy quaint.
I put my head down ‘tween my knees and don’t faint.

When I go to the beach, I feel like a geek
(‘cause I don’t have a Swartz’negger’s psyseek),
I don’t go in swimming nor go for a prowl,
I lay on the sand beneath my beach towel.

While others might suffer from shedding their clothes,
I’ve never been sunburned (except for my nose.)

When I get crank phone calls, I hang up “toot sweet,”
And never go out without shoes on my feet.

When loud noises are fright’ning, I cover both ears.
And for fears of old age I subtract twenty years.

When movies are scary I simply don’t look,
Through “The Wolfman Ate Clevelend” I read a good book.
(If you keep your flashlight stuffed up your sleeve,
there’s a good chance the ushers won’t ask you to leave.)

I turn off TV when there’s news on my set.
About the reports of diseases we’ll get.

But when I visit Disneyland, PEOPLE WATCH OUT!

I ride the fast coasters! I scream and I shout!
I laugh at the pirates, you won’t hear me grouse!
I’m the first one in line for that old Haunted House!

I ride little things that twirl me around!
And cars hung on wires ninety feet off the ground!
I stay forty hours ‘til they lock up the gate,
And I’m back the next day at dawn. How GRR-REAT!

I wonder if perhaps some fears I could shed,
Knowing that like Disney, they’re just in my head?

All too soon I must leave, and go back to my house.
“Goodbye” to Frontierland. “Goodbye,” Mickey Mouse.
I’ll return soon for the thrills that I crave,
But for now it’s back to the home of the Brave.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

Where do you feel bravest? What scares you and how do you overcome your fears?