Scaredy cat....

Let me introduce you to my world of fear. I’m preparing myself mentally for a trip to the dentist, one of the many things in this world I’m scared of. It does not bode well. So far I’ve taken one beta-blocker and the next one is due at 1.30pm. My appointment is at 15:45 and so far I’ve imagined the dentist drilling cavities the size of the Grand Canyon, and a brief five second fantasy of me dying of heart failure mid treatment, arms akimbo staring glass eyed into the middle distance.

 

I will spend my time trying to breathe and think calm and happy thoughts. This is an irrational fear I know, there are many of you that will stroll into the dentist laughing and joking, I see them all the time, looking like they don’t have a care in the world, while I straddle the metal chair in the waiting room like a frightened child.  I look at the clock; I look back at the door, my eyes darting back and forth like a demented lighthouse.  I ponder my fight or flight mode options carefully, I can make a run for it or I can sit here in a civilised fashion and mull over the dinner options for later. And then the dentist calls me and its game over.

I know some of you won’t’ understand this, you probably feel there are far more things in this world to be frightened of. I’m not in hospital facing a large needle; I’m not lying in bed about to undergo surgery. No, this is true, but you can’t rationalise this kind of fear any more than you can understand any of the other things I’m scared of. Escalators terrify me, heights leave me frozen to the spot, and I’m scared of the dark. So there, I’m a scaredy cat, is there nothing out there that frightens you?

Listen, just think about me at four o’ clock this afternoon and send positive thoughts; I need all the help I can get.