Facing the Fear

Once upon a time, there lived a princess, Mia. She was extremely afraid of the dark, everything and every shadow appeared to her as the most terrible of monsters. Her parents explained to her that these things were not monsters yet she could not stop feeling an awful fear whenever it was dark.

One day her Aunt came to visit. She was famous for her courage, so she asked her aunt whether she had ever been frightened.

"I remember when I was small and I was terribly afraid of the dark. I couldn't stay in the dark for even a moment". Mia became very excited. How was it possible that someone so courageous could have been afraid of the dark?

"I'll tell you a secret, Mia. It was some blind children who taught me how to be brave. They can't see, so if they had never discovered the secret of how not to be afraid of the dark, they would have been forever frightened". The secret is to change your eyes. Since blind children can't see, their hands are their eyes. All you have to do to conquer your fear is what they do. Shut the eyes of your face and open the eyes of your hands.

She decided to overcome her fear tonight, that night she closed the eyes of her face and opened the eyes of her hands. And, summoning up all her courage, she went over to touch that mysterious shadow. The next morning Mia came running into the kitchen, a big smile on her face, and a song on her lips. "The monster is so soft and smooth!" she cried, "It's my teddy bear!"

This story has got imbibed in me that whenever I get the tickle of “FEAR” I get reminded of the story, how brave and courageous MIA was.