Reflecting on your life, what were your greatest fears?

VintageBetter

VintageBetter

Senior Member
I thought of this question yesterday. What were your greatest fears that you carried through many decades?
 

Financial security and it still is one of my fears. I know that I put up with a number of bosses who were horrible to work for because I needed the money. Now I'm retired, I still worry about money and staying safe with a roof over my head. I try not to think of this as I don't want to attract poverty into my life, you know, kind of like the law of attraction.
 
Probably my main concern during my adult years was ability to maintain my health so that I could be able to support my family. Well, now that daughter is on her own and we are retired and have no financial worries my main concern is that I never become a burden on my family. If I get to the point I can't take care of myself, that is day I want to die.
 
My greatest fear was losing my Daughter . Then when she was 8 years old her father and I separated, and divorced 3 years later. From that young age I was single parent, just 29 years old.. and no family to help me go to work, and pay for all the bills and most importantly good food, clothing, school supplies and toys for my daughter...Not a penny maintenance from her father despite a courts ruling...

I was terrified someone was going to think I was an unfit parent in some way... so I worked 7 part-time jobs around her school hours to try and keep the roof over our heads... but that feeling that social services might come and take her away never left me until she was grown..
 
My mother. And being yelled at. It's one of my greatest fears.

A few years ago, I was overwhelmed at work. I told my boss what was going on, she got it and asked someone to help me. When she came over I said "oh hi K. you're here to help me" The bitch took my head off she was so nasty about it. I should have reported her. I didn't. I just take the garbage. Which is exactly what she made me feel like. I think helping me interfered with one of her extra smoke breaks.

A number of weeks ago, I was working the desk which I'm usually not assigned to do. I don't mind, gets me off my feet. I got called to the other side of the building because they knew I was working the desk and T. needed help with the same thing I had needed. I was glad to help her.
 
hollydolly said:
My greatest fear was losing my Daughter . Then when she was 8 years old her father and I separated, and divorced 3 years later. From that young age I was single parent, just 29 years old.. and no family to help me go to work, and pay for all the bills and most importantly good food, clothing, school supplies and toys for my daughter...Not a penny maintenance from her father despite a courts ruling...

I was terrified someone was going to think I was an unfit parent in some way... so I worked 7 part-time jobs around her school hours to try and keep the roof over our heads... but that feeling that social services might come and take her away never left me until she was grown..
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I can't even imagine how hard that was. He never paid you a penny? What a POS.
 
Remy said:
I can't even imagine how hard that was. He never paid you a penny? What a POS.
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Not a single penny, and when finally I got him back to court he lied through his teeth and told the judge he was paying in Cash every week.... not a single penny did we see.. and in fact you're right POS... despite not paying any money I allowed him visitation with DD every other weekend.. and I would go out for 4 hours on a Friday night so he would watch her.. it was the only social time I got... this went on for about a month .. before I came home and found he'd stolen all the ornamental gifts he'd bought me from abroad when he was in the Navy....and ... he'd stolen the shower. The actual bathroom shower..

Basically not only paying no maintenance, but stole everything else we had... which was very little ...

My mother always said God will exact his own revenge... and today 3 wives later.. he's on his own suffering terribly with Emphysema.. can't get out and about... can barely breathe... not one of his kids from the 3 pairings ( mine was the first born) want anything to do with him...

he lives just 3 hundred yards from my house yet he never visited his daughter after she was 16..nor sent her a birthday or Christmas card
 
hollydolly said:
Not a single penny, and when finally I got him back to court he lied through his teeth and told the judge he was paying in Cash every week.... not a single penny did we see.. and in fact you're right POS... despite not paying any money I allowed him visitation with DD every other weekend.. and I would go out for 4 hours on a Friday night so he would watch her.. it was the only social time I got... this went on for about a month .. before I came home and found he'd stolen all the ornamental gifts he'd bought me from abroad when he was in the Navy....and ... he'd stolen the shower. The actual bathroom shower..

Basically not only paying no maintenance, but stole everything else we had... which was very little ...

My mother always said God will exact his own revenge... and today 3 wives later.. he's on his own suffering terribly with Emphysema.. can't get out and about... can barely breathe... not one of his kids from the 3 pairings ( mine was the first born) want anything to do with him...

he lives just 3 hundred yards from my house yet he never visited his daughter after she was 16..nor sent her a birthday or Christmas card
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Oh I’m so sorry. What a rotter.
 
@Radrook said; Not offending God and getting disfellowshipped from the JWS organization was also of great concern.

I don't see god as able to be offended. To me, god is this thing that maintains and holds everything together. When bad things happen they are a part of life, however, people sometimes interpret these things as god's anger and wrath. The bible paints a different picture but in all honesty were these disasters a result of gods anger or a fluke of nature? No one can be certain because there is no absolute proof outside of the bible. I believe in god but not the bible, is my faith in god any less than someone who holds the bible as god's word? No.

What matters to me is my relationship to god, not your relationship to god, my relationship to god. If I choose not to believe the bible it does not concern anyone but me. Chances are, the way I understand god differs from you, that's ok by me. You have your own cross to bear that does not concern me, that's between you and your perception of god.
 
My greatest fear in life is nothing compared to many of those I read above, and I fully realize that...

As a young person, public speaking scared the heck out of me. I recall in 7th grade I won the school science fair (rock collection) and was to be given an award in front of the entire school in the auditorium. I never told my parents, and lo and behold that morning I got an "ear ache", and stayed home.

I managed to dodge any more of those situations until my early '30s when my office was going to put on "road shows" to other company offices touting our unit (gas liquids). Yup, I was the designated financial speaker. It took a lot of help, understanding, and practice and suddenly my most dreaded fear was pretty much a "high". I still am amazed at that transformation, and only wish I had done it sooner in life.
 
Lawrence00 said:
Wasps
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Wasps? Really?

Some years ago my wife and me visited a horticultural show. She ate a bratwurst with a bread roll. A wasp came and bit off a small part of the bratwurst. The insect wanted to fly away with it's 'pray', but the piece was a little too heavy that it was quite a struggle for the wasp to take off.

My wife and I watched this with a lot of interest. An older woman, sitting nearby, got terrified by the wasp. My wife said "wasps are friendly if you stay calm and don't slash at them". I doubt that she believed it.

Sitting at our table on the balcony or terrace especially in late summer and early fall there are always wasps which like cake or meat. Sometimes they flew into one of my nostrils to look if they can reside there. If this happens I take a deep breath through my mouth and blow the insect out of my nostril. I'd never panic about such things.

Nevertheless I admire the courage of beekeepers with a face fully covered by their bees. I wouldn't do it.
 
I often wondered if I’d live to age 60. Well, blew the hell out of that one. 🥹
When I was raising a family, my biggest fear was that I wasn’t home enough to help raised my kids to be good people. I was always working, day and night, to keep our heads above water.
So much for that fear. We have three of the kindest kids on earth. 🥰
 
MaidMarian said:
I’m afraid of being alone, yet I already am.
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Somebody can be alone after a divorce or as a widow or widower. But somebody can be alone also in a marriage.

"He has been waiting for 10 years now. These are the years that he walked alongside his wife Annemaria and basically also waited for his wife to become his home. But they lived side by side and not together."

(Translated from a German book)
 

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