Fear not.

Chris Hadfield's TED talk on his space walk

This was a great talk. It really was inspiring, as every TED talk has been so far, because it dealt with a concept that I (and probably most people) deal with rather consistently: fear. He spoke of how we can change the way we react by understanding the difference between perceived fear and actual danger. And he did this by giving an example of something a lot of people fear.

SPIDERS.

SCARY.

DANGEROUS.

Or are they?

He proceeded to talk about how many different types of spiders there are (around 700+ types?) and how many are actually venomous (maybe 12...maybe?). And then, he mentioned that in Canada (where he was giving the talk), there's only ONE spider you have to worry about. 

The black widow spider. And then he talked about the possibility of walking into the web of a black widow spider and how it's almost an impossibility because they spin their webs close to the ground in corners. 

Crazy right? Once knowledgeable, there's no reason to fear anymore. We have this instinct to frantically brush off a spider when, most of the time, they're as dangerous as a ladybug or a butterfly. 

Come on, we all know this feeling.

So, perceived fear vs. actual danger. This, like Hadfield said, can be applied to everything. While I don't think I'll be walking into spider webs to get over my fear of spiders (which is what his solution was...), I'll certainly be taking his advice to heart.

Thanks, Mr. Hadfield.