This morning on the radio Kate Taylor reported:

"Australians would rather die than talk in public" referring to a recent study where roughly 70% of Australians ranked Public Talking as their greatest fear above Death.

I’m so over Journalists misinterpreting statistics and twisting the wording so that something means a completely different thing altogether! Just because people are more afraid of Public Talking than Death doesn’t mean they would prefer to die than give a speech! It’s actually healthy to not have a strong fear of dying because guess what people – it happens to everyone eventually! We have been given the strength to understand that you can’t spend your life being afraid of something that is inevitable… So yeah, we’re more afraid of Public Speaking than Death. But at least that is a reasonable fear, plenty of people can go through a successful life without Public Speaking, but to my knowledge… no-one can go through life without eventually coming to death.

I am confident that if the statistic options were Public Speaking or Painful Death the results would have been gravely different.

I personally enjoy Public Speaking. I'm opinionated, confident, and often more comfortable talking to a large crowd than having one-on-one time with someone intimidating. To be perfectly honest, I enjoy having all that attention fixed on me ;o) But even then, I still get nervous everytime I need to do a Public Presentation... What if I mess up? What if no-one is interested in what I have to say? It's always the 'what-if's that do it! Whereas death... yeah I'd prefer to die an old lady slowly falling asleep in bed surrounded by people I love instead of right now at a young age. But I try not to think about death too much... and the less you think about something, the less scary it becomes.

xxx
RA

I woke up last night on the kitchen counter – It turns out that I sleep walk…

All the doors and windows were locked shut and I was the only one in the apartment (My roomie has paired off for Spring and has been spending most nights with her current boy toy). It was one of the scariest things that has ever happened to me. I woke up shivering and as my eyes came into focus, I didn’t recognise the walls surrounding me. Naturally – I freaked and jumped up, thinking I was in a comfortable squishy bed… instead I banged my head on the cabinet above me.

Now I was cold, lost and my head was pounding…

The first thought that came to my sleep-addled brain; was that I had been abducted in my sleep! Someone had taken me and put me in a tiny dark room with counters and cupboards and sinks and… my kettle… my kettle? That’s when I realised I was in my kitchen and I almost felt like laughing, almost. Despite realising where I was, adrenaline was still pumping through my veins and the icy fingers of fear are not ones you can shake off easily.

I flicked on all of my lights and checked every little nick and cranny to make sure I was alone in that apartment. After all, I’ve never sleep-walked before and yet somehow I ended up on my kitchen counter in the middle of the night.

One thing that I’ve taken away from this; is that people act so differently under genuine fear. I always thought I’d be a screamer if someone attacked me, but last night I didn’t even cry out in pain when I hit my head… I caught the gasp at the back of my throat when I first woke up surprised and I slipped silently across the floor as I took in my surroundings.

As much as I felt panicked, I didn’t act in alarm. I was controlled and careful… I’ve never been a victim before but now I’m confident that if something ever came to that, I would be able to fight back strategically.

It’s weird how random realisations like that can change your outlook on life or your confidence in yourself.

I hope all of you are fighters as well. As nice as it is to dream about a night in shining armour to rescue you, (and some people might be lucky enough to have one) it’s always important to be able to rescue yourself. It makes you powerful. I’ve done a quick search on it and 1 out of 3 attackers will abandon the assault if you fight back. They don’t expect it and suddenly you become too much of a hassle and "The juice isn’t worth the squeeze"-(Encino Man)

Anyway, I've linked a few articles that I found interesting and empowering in case anyone ever reads this and is interested :o)

xxx
RA


Studies on Fighting Back

How to Fight an Attacker (Dirty)

Myths About Fighting Back