Not as bad as I thought

Nothing to "bee" afraid of!

I have a confession to make. I am terrified of bees. Bee stings, to be exact. Which is strange, because I'd never been stung by a bee. But I have gone to ridiculous lengths to avoid getting stung. Including going to a plant expert to find out how to minimize getting stung in my garden.

Which was why, as I was walking through the Denver Botanic Gardens on a field trip with my little one, I was completely surprised by a very painful stinging sensation on my neck. Yep. I'd been stung by a bee. My first thought was, "God, please don't let me die in front of this group of second graders I'm chaperoning. They'll be traumatized for life." My second thought was, "hey, I don't think I'm dying." We walked to the main visitor's center, and the lovely lady at the desk told me what to look for (in case I was allergic), and then gave me some stuff to put on it.

No big deal, right? Which led me to walking through the gardens, marveling at the beauty, and thinking about the things we fear. I had "bee sting" so far up on my fear list that when it happened, it was no big deal. I think about all the things I've missed out on because I've been so terrified of getting stung. Incredible flowers not in my garden because they attract bees.

What a waste!

I will admit that later, I did have a little worse reaction to the sting, and I called my doctor, who assured me that I would be fine, and that because of where I was stung, my symptoms made sense. But I have been miserable. Mostly because I'm allergic to Benadryl, the one thing that would make it sooo much better. Even this inconvenience isn't nearly as bad as what I feared. In fact, it really has opened my eyes to thinking about all the other things I fear. Sure, being stung by a bee isn't something I want to repeat. But it's also not so bad that I can't go through it again. Which means I can live my life in new freedom.

What are your irrational fears? How have you faced them?