Writing in Process
My Fear Story
One of the biggest fears of my life is the fear of one of my tires falling off while I’m driving. It’s become a joke amongst my closest friends; whenever we’re going somewhere and I’m driving, I’ll always think that I feel a wheel wobbling and nervously ask my friends “Is it just me or is a wheel about to fall off”? It always is just me, I have never had a wheel fall off and I’ve never even had a close call, knock on wood, but I always hear stories from others about this happening to either them or a friend. I don’t understand much about cars, and I am over 2 hours from home and therefore my Dad who takes care of my car, so my fear stems from me not noticing something obvious and then having a tire fall off while I’m driving.
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One of my biggest fears, and a fairly recently developed fear as well, is my fear of a tire falling off while driving. I mention it every time I’m driving my friends somewhere; all it takes is one weird patch of road for me to ask, “Is it just me or is my wheel about to fall off”? It always is just me, and I ask it often enough that it has become an inside joke within one of my friend groups. Despite this fear being unfounded, my friends still assure me that my wheels are fine and will check for me, even though we all know that they are firmly attached to my car.
My fear is amplified by my lack of knowledge regarding cars and the physical distance between my dad and me. My dad takes care of all of the cars my family owns, so being over 2 hours away from home makes me feel like I’m going to miss a major issue with my car. However, reflecting on this fear makes me realize that I can take control of it by taking the initiative to learn more about the maintenance and keeping of my car. As I feel more confident and knowledgeable about my car, I’m sure the fear will go away.
Ted Talk Takeaways
3 Big Ideas
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Talking to strangers can cause a unique connection that we don't often form with those we know
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We shouldn't expect those we know to always know what we're thinking and how we're feeling, verbal communication is important
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The way strangers treat each other is highly dependent on local culture
2 Takeaways
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It never hurts to give a stranger a random complement
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Putting yourself out there by conversing with strangers can help you learn something about yourself
1 Question
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How might have the COVID-19 lockdowns impacted the effectiveness of the strategy described by the speaker?
What We Keep
Be Your Own Detective
What are the most important lessons you’ve learned in life?
Some of the most important lessons I’ve learned in life have had to do with the way I interact with others. I’ve learned that the energy that you put out into the world is the energy you receive from others; treating people with basic kindness often results in them treating you with kindness in return. Being the bigger person is always the better option, holding onto grudges and anger just makes you into a bitter person. There’s only so much time we get to spend on Earth, spending that time angry and bitter sounds like a chore when we can choose to let go and be more positive about everything that is happening.
What are you proudest of?
The thing I’m proudest of is how much I’ve changed since high school. I used to be a much more bitter and angry person who would hold grudges like you wouldn’t believe. When I got to college, I realized that there’s no point to any of that. Most people aren’t trying to anger you on purpose, and if they are, there’s no point to engaging with them. Life is a lot lighter and much more fun when you learn to let go, and I think I have become a much more positive and kinder version of myself. I want to have a net positive on the world and people around me and I am much closer to that goal now than I was four years ago.
If you could talk to a younger version of yourself, what would you say?
If I could talk to my younger self, I would tell her to be kinder and learn to value everyone around her. It’s much easier on the soul to let things go and be nice to everyone, and if I had learned that not everyone is out to get me all the time, then I would have found happiness a lot earlier. Time goes by a lot faster than you realize, learn to value what little time you have left living at home and going to school.
