This is a story of how I conquered my irrational fear.

Now, you better promise not to laugh. See I have an irrational fear. We all do I guess. Some people are afraid of clowns, some are afraid of spiders, but me, I’m afraid of grass. Yes I know, it’s ridiculous, but when I was little I had horrendously bad hay fever which made it hard to breathe. I’d break out in terrible rashes and my eyes would be watering so badly I couldn’t see my own hand if I held it in front of my face.

I suppose it’s no wonder I’m afraid of grass if that’s what it does to me. But, I wouldn’t know because I haven’t set foot on a patch of grass since I was twelve years old.

Most of nature I can deal with. It was only grass that gave me such a bad reaction that I felt fearful to ever go near it again.

Anyway, my determination to stay away from grass causes a lot of problems in my day to day life. I can’t have a garden, I had to put flagstones down. I can’t go on picnics with my friends. I can’t go to the park with my niece. It’s really not ideal. That’s why I decided to face my fear.

It was Saturday morning when I did just that. I took a hay fever tablet and armed myself with a load of hay fever wipes. I couldn’t think of anything else that might help me fend off the pollen so with that I was ready.

I decided to start small, I asked my neighbour if I could go stand in their garden for a bit. It took me five minutes to get through the gate but once I had stood on the grass I almost wondered why I’d made such a fuss all these years. I sat down and ran my fingers along the cool, green surface. It felt pretty good to be honest, although I did feel a slight tickle at my nose.

Next step: the park. I decided it was time for the deep end. The park was filled with miles of grass and it was all bound to be full of pollen that makes my eyes turn puffy. Nonetheless, I walked through the park gates and immediately sat myself in the middle of one of the fields. I waited for my eyes to start watering but it didn’t happen. I waited for my nose to itch but it didn’t happen. I waited for my breathing to become more difficult but it didn’t happen. Man those hay fever tablets must work good. It was so nice to be able to sit on a patch of grass like any other normal person. Maybe I didn’t have a fear anymore after all.

(Kudos to my boyfriend for making me laugh thinking of all the irrational fears a person could have 😂)