Naturally, as an 18 year old school girl, I have a mile long list of fears. I’m afraid of long hallways; sharks, jellyfish and fish in general, actually; spiders that fall on your face when you sleep; the Nightmare on Elm Street movie franchise; and, of course, oblivion.

I recognize, however, that the fears of certain things don’t do a darn thing to help you in life. In fact, there are a good few things that will keep you from living said life. Here are a few of them:

1. The fear of change: life is full of it and, frankly, it’s usually the sign of progress or growth.
2. The fear of people: life is full of this too. There are a handful of these creatures that will most definitely cause strife and difficulties, and sometimes it seems like people are just there to get in your way, but never be afraid to make new relationships because of past traumas.
3. The fear of distance: I can name a few instances in my life where I was afraid to take an opportunity because of distance between myself and my family. Homesickness is difficult sometimes, but it should never be an excuse to refuse adventures.
4. The fear of being genuine: no one has ever been their true self 100% of the time, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try our best.
5. The fear of failure: I’m going to quote Prince Zuko for this one: “You’re going to fail a lot before things work out. But even though you’ll probably fail over and over and over again, you have to try every time. You can’t quit because you’re afraid you might fail.”
6. The fear of love: it sounds strange, but everybody has restrained themselves from a loving situation or relationship simply because they’re afraid of rejection. Although there is a chance of it happening, the act of loving is worth every scar. You know that cliché, “It’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all”? Yeah, that’s an important cliché.
7. The fear of standing up for yourself: this one sounds like a cliché in itself, but as teenagers, we like to forget it. How easy is it to conform to our peers at the drop of a hat? Too easy. Especially since the motive is usually to avoid ridicule. If that’s what’s keeping you behind bars, it’s most definitely not worth it.

There are still many more things that everyone fears that really shouldn’t be so frightening. From jumping spiders to oblivion, there are so many things that seem to threaten us enough to give us distress. It’s a crazy list, really. Let’s just not include things that get in the way of our potential and happiness.