How brave are you?

Have you ever wondered just how brave you are? Whether we want to admit it or not, we all have something that we’re afraid of. But just where do you fall on the scaredy-cat scale?

To answer that question, I’ve come up with a completely unscientific system for determining your braveness rating. Below is a list of the ten most common fears that people all over the world share that I borrowed from livescience.com. Give yourself one point for every item listed that sends a shiver down your spine. I’ll share my own response to each item so you can see how you stack up against me.

10. Visiting the dentist. This one completely baffles me. I have been to the dentist many times, even had my first root canal last year, and the most I have ever experienced while in the dentist’s chair is minor discomfort. I don’t know what all the fuss is about.

9. Dogs. For me it depends on the dog and his demeanor. If he is one of those breeds that have been known to kill people and he has a bad attitude, of course I’m going to give him a wide berth. But that toy poodle down the road does not keep me up at night.

8. Flying. I’ll admit that I do get a little nervous at takeoff, during landings, and when the ride gets rough. It’s not so much the flying I fear as the possibility of falling. I’m giving myself a pass on this one too.

7. Thunder and lightning. I’m not sure what there is to be afraid of in a thunderstorm except actually being struck by lightning. If I’m out in an open field and it looks like a storm is blowing in I’ll head for cover, but other than that thunderstorms don’t impress me.

6. The dark. I’m only afraid of the dark if I have reason to believe there is something nearby that might present a threat that I can’t see. When a strange noise wakes me up in the middle of the night of course my heart starts racing until I find out it wasn’t caused by a wandering serial killer with a hook for a hand. I don’t think that counts.

5. Heights. Okay, they nailed me here. I do not like being more than a few feet off the ground. I could fall. It would hurt.

4. Other people. Also known as social anxiety. Ouch, they got me again. People are scary, especially people I don’t know, or people I do know who have “issues.” That covers most of the human race.

3. Agoraphobia, or a fear of being in a threatening place or situation that is difficult to escape from. This is like fear of the dark for me – I’m okay unless there is some extenuating circumstance that suggests I may need to escape from the situation.

2. Spiders. Spiders??? Are you kidding me? What could a spider possibly do to me? I have never met a spider who did anything but run away as fast as his 8 little legs could carry him if I got too close. Apparently this fear is almost completely exclusive to women – maybe that’s why I just can’t see it.

1. Snakes. I am afraid of snakes, but I have no idea why. They really aren’t that much more of a threat than spiders, but for some reason I don’t like to get within 100 feet of them. Maybe there’s some sort of residual effect from that whole Garden of Eden incident. That gives me a score of 3.

Scoring key:

(0 – 3) = You are a pillar of courage and intestinal fortitude, like me.
(4 – 6) = You’re probably about average in the fear department.
(7 – 10) = I don’t want to add to your anxiety by telling you what this score indicates. You’re fine, really!