Have you ever entered a room and noticed an abrupt change in lighting and hear an unfamiliar sound?
This happened to me last night as I entered my bathroom. As I moved further into the room a fast moving shadow stopped me in my tracks. As the adrenaline began to spread throughout my body, I debated if ignorance could truly be blissful. Perhaps I could ignore it and go on with my night. Bravery or the perception of, won that battle. I timidly looked down to determine what was scurrying across my floor. There it lied, an unwanted, uninvited intruder.
Fear overcame me and since my friend had just left my home I thought perhaps if I scream loud enough she could hear my cries for help through the brick, out of the door and into her car. For some reason my cries were not heard.
“Kola you can do this, this is no big deal. You’ve survived a lot, and surely you can survive this.” After giving myself this pep talk I throw the bath mat at the intruder which only angered it and caused it to go further in hiding after attempting to what I describe as attack me. 5 minutes pass as I stand there waiting for the intruder to come out of hiding. It never does! I decide to take a chance and run to get my cell phone.
“Think!! Who can you call?! Oh I know! The fire department!! Do they have a non-emergency fire number? Call your brother he’ll know.”
Like all good horror stories he doesn’t answer. I proceed to send out distress signals to anyone I know who lives close enough or loves me enough to tackle this intruder. Kevin, my brother, eventually calls me back. I describe my current situation, Standing on the threshold, watching the intruder watch me. “WHY? ” he asked. “UHHH because if I take my eyes off of it and it goes somewhere in the house and I can’t find it, I can’t stay in the house until it’s found!!”Needless to say his response was less than supportive and he found that rather comical. He then says, “you should get a cat. A cat would have gotten it for you.”
I think to myself, how is this helping me so I end the conversation.
Another distress signal went out to my friend/neighbor, Jason. He also proceeded to mock my situation with the infamous LOL response.
Finally I receive a call from my father who offers a real suggestion. But of course I’m not willing to try due to fear. As any good parent says, let’s talk this through, “What would you do if no one was around?”
“Call the fire department!”
Silence-“I don’t think they will respond to that.”
The only suggestion I was willing to accept is rescuing. On this particular night my father was in town and offered to drive the 30 minutes to my home and save me from the intruder. So for 30 minutes, I stood there watching it, watch me until my cape-less Hero arrived.
I am sad to say that the intruder, a lizard, yes a lizard, did not survive the night. He met an unfortunate death on 10-07-2018.
And why am I again telling this story? 2 reasons:
1. Fear is real to the person experiencing it, regardless of what others think. Fear can paralyze you or cause you to make “irrational” decisions. What “irrational” decisions have you made when afraid or when facing an intense emotion? I encourage you to be sensitive and receptive to anyone experiencing fear or any emotion that you perhaps do not understand.
2. Don’t just ask for help, be sure to ask help of someone truly capable of helping. The frustration that comes from inadequate or unwilling help is intense and can forever change relationships. I’m fortunate to have people in my life to drive the distance to rescue me.
And for the record they all eventually offered to help, but it was only after laughing and then asking, ‘Well how big is it?’ As if that made a difference to me.
