What is your phobia?

I was sitting on the couch today, kind of in a daze from not sleeping so good last night, and I started thinking about things that I am afraid of. Yep. I'm a thinker. Sometimes it's a good thing. Sometimes it's a bad thing. Sometimes it can get me in trouble.
So, I decided to look up the list of phobias and see which ones I have. Oh my gosh! The list of phobias is soooo long. I'm going to name a few that I found to be quite odd, but if you care to read the rest of them go HERE. Don't get me wrong, I'm not criticizing any of you for having these phobias. But, you are going to be very surprised as to how many there are and/or how many you may have.

Ablutophobia - Fear of washing or bathing.
Acarophobia - Fear of itching or of the insects that cause itching.
Acerophobia - Fear of sourness. .
Acousticophobia - Fear of noise.
Agyrophobia - Fear of streets or crossing the street.
Alektorophobia - Fear of chickens. 
Anemophobia - Fear of air drafts or wind.
Anglophobia - Fear of England, English culture, ect.
Angrophobia - Fear of becoming angry.
Ankylophobia - Fear of immobility of a joint.
Apeirophobia - Fear of infinity.
Astrophobia - Fear of stars and celestial space.
Asymmetriphobia - Fear of asymmetrical things.
Athazagoraphobia - Fear of being forgotten or ignored or forgetting.
Atomosophobia - Fear of atomic explosions.
Ballistophobia - Fear of missles or bullets.
Blennophobia - Fear of slime.
Cacophobia - Fear of ugliness.
Cainophobia - Fear of newness, novelty.
Chrematophobia - Fear of money. (not this girl...I'll take all the money you want to give me!)
Cyclophobia - Fear of bicycles.
Cyprinophobia - Fear of prostitutes or venereal disease.
Defecaloesiphobia - Fear of painful bowels movements.
Didaskaleinophobia - Fear of going to school. (this was me when I was in 5th grade! I would fake being sick so I could stay home! But I got over it pretty quick when I was told I would have to repeat the grade again if I didn't start going!)
Ereuthophobia - Fear of redlights. Fear of blushing. Fear of red.


Ok..that's all I'm going to show you. I barely touched the list. You can go HERE to see the rest of them.

So...time for confession. What am I afraid of? What is my phobia?
Mine are pretty simple.


Arachnephobiba - Fear of spiders. 
When we were stationed in Okinawa, we had the biggest spiders I've ever seen in my life! They are called Banana spiders. They are at least 6 -7 inches in length..leg span! They would hide in the bushes in my back yard..any bushes or trees really. And you never saw them until it was too late! Luckily the kids were never bitten by one of these most disgusting creatures, but the spiders would sure put a fear of death in you if one climbed on you!

Altophobia - Fear of heights.
I love to fly. And of course, I always want to sit by the window. (The reason for that is the phobia below)
I will even look out the window. But I will still have the fear of being up so high. It's always best if I just go to sleep on the airplane so my mind won't start playing tricks on me.
A few years back, my family and I went to Chicago.
While touring downtown, we came to the Sears Tower. Do I want to go up there and look down they asked? NO WAY! Just the thought of the elevator going up that high scared me! They went. They took this photo for me. Just looking at this photo gives me the willies! I stayed on the ground and waited until they came back down so we could go eat some of Chicago's finest pizza!

Claustrophobia - Fear of confined spaces.
As soon as I wake up in the morning, I open my blinds. I don't care if it's cloudy or raining outside, I have to be able to see outside. This also explains why I have to have the window seat on the airplane. If I'm home alone when I'm in the shower, I leave the bathroom door open. When I go to bed at night, I leave the bedroom door open. I'll go in an elevator, but not for more than a few floors. If other people are on the elevator with me and they get out before me, it gives me some relief so I can make it the rest of the way up.

This may be why I love to go snorkeling but don't like it at the same time.  I don't like not knowing what is around me. It's hard to see anything except what's in front of you with that big ol' mask on! I finally decided to go snorkeling when we went to the Bahamas a few years ago. I was doing fine..enjoyed looking at all the beautiful little fishes...until...a Barracuda spotted me. He kept coming closer and closer to me. I started swimming backwards and trying to kick him with my fins. I was more afraid of not knowing what was behind me than I was of him. Finally my hubby poked him with his spear and he swam away. Later on, I found out it was because I left my gold earrings in and the barracuda was going after them! Then of course, the thought of that jagged teeth monster coming after my face freaked me out again! Needless to say...I didn't go back in the water.

Glossophobia - Stage Fright
I couldn't find this one on the list. Maybe I just missed it, so I googled it. I've never heard the 'medical' term for it before. This is one that I am overcoming by myself. Over the past several years, I have made a point to put myself out of my comfort zone. I was the Co-President of our Home School Group when we homeschooled. I had to speak at least twice a month at family meetings and Mother's Night Out. It would take me all day to get ready for a 30 minute speech! Then I volunteered to be the key speaker at our church's Ladies Retreat, and also a counselor at Bible Camp. Now I teach Sunday School. I still get butterflies when I have to get up in front of a lot of people. Our Sunday School class made a picture for our pastor for Pastor Appreciation month and I had to get in front of our church and speak. I couldn't get back to my seat fast enough!

Well, that about sums it up for me.

What is your phobia?

Could it be the fear of reading another super long blog post?
Hmmm...wonder what that phobia would be called?
I know....readalongblogaphobia!