Hi Andrea and all;
It is very normal to be afraid of bears and the dark etc.- I was as a
child. Here is my story of how I overcame those fears: When I was young
I remember watching a show on TV- I think Gunsmoke- about a bear that
had been burnt in a forest fire and it made him mean. He liked to
attack people who built campfires and his eyes would glow especially
big in the light of the campfire (the thought still gives me
goose-bumps!) During this same time I forgot to feed our horses one
evening and when I mentioned it to my Dad he said "well you better take
the flashlight and take some hay down the hill for them." By this time
it was pitch- black out side and the horses were in the darkest part of
the woods! I loved the horses and didn't want them to go hungry so I
obediently took the hay down to them. The farther away from the house I
got the more the image of that bear took over my imagination and it
took every ounce of my strength to reach the woods where I dropped the
hay and then ran all the way home shaking from head to toe. After that
scary night it took me about 30 years of making myself walk (a little
farther each time without a flashlight) to overcome those feelings of
fear. Now I love walking in the dark on country roads, even when it is
warm and there are rattlesnakes around (but not where there is any
traffic.) I just decided I didn't want fear to control my life so for
me the best way was to embrace those fears.
Joy Stickney-Markgraf
near White Salmon WA
email: joymarkgraf at gorge.net