FEAR OF LIGHTNING

Oxford dictionary defines phobia as an extreme and irrational fear of something..Each one of us suffers from at least one phobia . I AM A HOPELESS ASTRAPOPHOBIC .Whenever I see lightning flashes at the horizon even if they are far away I want to hide myself in a place where I would’nt have to see and hear the terrifying lightning flashes and deafening thunder sounds, but it’s not possible so i sit curled up normally on a chair,tension writ large on my face, reciting the Quranic ayats that come to my mind at that dreadful time and fearing to be hit any moment by the lightning. My dad who regards lightning as a natural phenomenon , a thing to be admired not feared, is highly irritated by my behavior and gives me a severe dressing down but his scolding can not take away my fear. He has to deal with two astrapophobics; me and my brother.

When i was a child my astrapophobia was at it’s peak I used to stuff my ears with cotton , close my eyes tightly and snuggle into my mom’s arms , over the years the intensity has lessened, but only slightly.. Hopefully in the distant future I would be able to overcome my astrapophobia and enjoy this so called phenomenon, I am calling it SO CALLED because in the present I can not bring myself to view it that way,like my dad.