You are born with only two fears: the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises.
As a child, when you feel like you are being dropped, your body goes into instant panic mode. When you hear something that disturbs the peaceful air, you cry.
As we grow, we get over these fears and develop new ones. For example, I’m deathly afraid of snakes, but will crank my music as loud as it goes when I’m alone.
However, I believe humans never completely outgrow the fear of falling; it only changes.
Falling is characterized by losing your balance or losing your grip. Physically falling may be something we learn to overcome – we simply patch up the boo-boos, dust ourselves off and try again. But emotionally falling is something we fear forever.
Not only do we fear falling in love, but also falling out of it. The name for the fear of falling in love or emotional attachment is philophobia.
Nowadays, some people push away every feeling that could hurt them. We avoid making deeper connections with aquaintances because it would hurt to lose grip of the friendship and slip into something more complicated. The same could be said when it comes to making friends.
We are afraid to trust in others because of the possibility of someone walking away, leaving us falling.
Honestly the odds of this happening are 50-50. If you ask me, those are pretty good odds. It’s like a true or false question on a quiz. You may not know the answer, but you have an indication that it could be equally right or wrong.
I’ve endured and conquered this fear and could explain how worthwhile it is, but I know it will never change how others view their own fear of falling in love with another person.
You will fall eventually, so why not now? Why let your fear of falling keep you from a happy relationship?
Even if it ends, it could still be some of the best memories of your life as you grow older.
Take it from me: a known scaredy cat of ruining simple friendships over a deeper relationship. It’s worth the risk.
Without overcoming philophobia, you may never make real connections with people.
The worst aspect of this fear is that it often leads to a life of solitude and loneliness.
If you base your relationships on the fear you might end up alone, you will always be left alone.
Don’t write feelings off based on fears.
Story by Hunter Harrell, Features Editor