Freak Out
Throughout all of my life I’ve had the tendency of being obedient and having anxiety when I don’t follow the rules. When I was six years old, I ran across the street, and it hit me. No it literally hit me. “It” was a moped on a street in Mexico. I remember my mom telling me to hold her hand and stay on the side walk, but I refused and it wasn’t long before I was laying on the ground, embarrassed and worried because I had done something stupid. It’s funny really, the first thought that came to my head was about my mom being upset, not because I was hurt but because I was being defiant. It surprised me when I saw my mother standing over me worried to death because she thought I was seriously hurt. Fortunately I only had a few scratches and bruises and stood up almost instantly.
When I was fifteen I learned how to drive a car. I didn’t get a license until I was nearly seventeen because my parents didn’t want me to drive on my own so soon. So they created a condition, I could get my license if I went six months without getting a ticket or causing an accident. Since I had followed their rules, I earned the privilege of getting a license. I was nearly a week away from my driver’s test when my older brother called me and informed me that while I was out in his car, I got a red-light ticket for not making a complete stop before turning right on a red light. I was in DC with my school when I received this call and we were out having dinner and hanging out in Georgetown. In that instant I could no longer have fun. I was terrified of disappointing my parents for disobeying their warnings about stopping completely at red lights because they may have a camera. No matter how hard my friends tried to distract me and entertain me, I could not stop freaking out about the red light ticket I received and how easily I could have prevented it. Given the fact that it was my brother’s car, and he got the ticket mailed to his house, my parents had no idea it even happened. I paid my brother for the fine, and all ended was fine. I got my license and to this day have not received another ticket and have never been pulled over. Even though the problem was easily resolved, and it wasn’t that big of a deal I psyched my self out for something that happens to everyone at some point in life, and my parents would have been reasonable about the situation.
Since then I have, of course, encountered many more instances in which I freak out about any little thing. However, I have slowly learned how to relax when I find my self in a situation that causes me stress, because I am most likely over thinking the situation. I’ve learned how to loosen up and accept that I’m gonna make mistakes and all I can control after I make a mistake, is the effect the experience has on me.
