I’m participating in a challenge to blog every day in May; today’s prompt instructed participants to share what it is they are most afraid of.

Hands down, I’m most afraid of something bad happening to one of my children. So much so that even listing the possibilities was distressing, so that’s all I’m going to say.

Serious illness for myself and my own death come in a distant 2nd. I know where I’m going (and that’s not due to arrogance, as I know that what I have done/do/will do has nothing to do with that), so it’s not the hereafter that bothers me. It’s leaving my children.

I’m also afraid to fly. I do it when I have to, but as I tell other people, “I’m not a good flyer”. Even thinking of flying in an airplane — imagining myself walking through the airport, boarding the plane, etc. — makes me feel panicky.

Heights really bother me. Again, I can handle heights if I have to, but I avoid them if at all possible. I’ve ridden “Tower of Terror” one time, and had I been able to breathe enough to get words out right before they closed those elevator doors, I would have told the “butler” I wanted off, and I would have gotten off. I can say with absolute certainty that I will never ride it again. Heights and I do not get along.

That’s it. I’ve survived things that I imagine most people might put on their list. I’ve lost my husband. I’ve lost both parents and a job. I speak in public on an almost-daily basis.

But those first two? They’re biggies. I pray the first never happens, and I know at least the 2nd part of the 2nd one will some day occur. Until then, I try to live as fearlessly as I can.

What about you? What do you fear?