No, it's not the nostalgic images brought to mind when you remember childhood Halloweens of long ago. Times when we sat in circles scaring ourselves with ghost stories. It was great seeing who would crack up before the story reached its climax...and who would endure to the end, shrug their shoulders, and deny its chilling effect. The fear of those days was conjured by our own desire for excitement-much like a roller coaster ride. The heights are tall and the ride fast, turning your stomach inside out, but the environment is controlled. Anyone can face a fear that's only an illusion.
But in adulthood, fear meets truth, testing my courage. The scary stories don't come from the other kids down the block, but they reside in my own mind.
Fear: When will you ever find somebody?
Truth:I'm single with no man in sight.
Hmm...Let's keep playing.
Fear: What's the purpose of my life?
Truth: I'm a late twenty-something who has gone through two careers and is struggling to make ends meet.
Yet the idealistic young girl in me challenges such "truth." These facts may be the reality of my life currently, but can one tell the end from the beginning? And isn't there a hero to this story of my life?
So I shrug my shoulders and refuse to be frightened, because the light in my soul is on. Grown up ghosts, though seemingly real, disappear when I refuse to believe in them.
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