The feeling that I’m falling when I’m drifting off to sleep
Calling people in certain situations, like to sell something
Kids playing near the edges of tall buildings, cliffs, etc.
Dangling my feet over the edge of cliff when the rocks on the edge are loose or slippery
Promising to write 10, 100-item list posts in a row
Speaking a foreign language to a native speaker I don’t know
Trying to understand someone’s English when they can’t speak it very well, particularly when they’re trying to tell me something important, not just practicing
Spelling words I should know but don’t
Trying to write long sentences straight across a blackboard in front of a class
Trying to leap frog over certain types of poles
Jumping over a high rope held between two friends
Skydiving
Bungee jumping
The cold on my feet when I jump into a lake and descend too far down
Shots and most things with veins and arteries
Being questioned by police officers
Attempting any kind of flip in the air (trampoline, diving board, etc.)
Apologizing in certain situations
Psychiatric wards
Job interviews when the person right before me looks more qualified than I am
Starting a book project
Not being able to breath after the wind has been knocked out of me
Running out of air when I’m still a few feet underwater
Driving by kids who jump out into the street
Driving by people who are walking too close to the side of the road
People seeing how nervous I am
Running out of items to include on this list before getting to the end
Letting people read something I’ve worked hard to write
Getting to the end of my life and realizing that I wasted most of it
Being forgotten
Admitting certain mistakes, especially the ones I continue to make over and over again
Trying to stand on a horizontal pole/rail and then slipping and falling on it
Sharp objects near my eyes
Computer crashes
Wasps that dart out of nowhere
People pretending to throw me off the edge of tall buildings
Choosing between two bad options
Choosing between two good options
Closing off options in general
Opening too many options (option overload)
Knocking on someone’s door for the first time if I’m not sure I have the right place
Getting lost
Eels
Trying something that will probably fail without accepting that I’ll probably fail
Lying
The realization that watching a video clip of someone being killed doesn’t bother me (at least not the way I think it should)
Riding in a car with an inexperienced driver who’s trying to show off
Losing control while driving on an icy road
Walking through a group of gangsters on the sidewalk
Singing in public
Parents who don’t care about their children
Cutting someone’s hair and thinking I’ve messed it all up
Being asked a question on a topic I’m supposed to know about but don’t
The first really tall ride at an amusement park
Crazy big zits
Spider crickets that jump on you when you don’t expect it
Being assigned really long research papers in class
Professors who can barely speak English
The first moment I realize I’ve slept in too late for an important meeting or test
The moment when I think I’ve slept in too late for an important meeting or test (even if I actually haven’t)
Important deadlines I realize I can’t keep, particularly when a bunch of other people are counting on me
The thought of going blind
When people accidentally hurt themselves, and no one knows how bad it is yet
When old people fall down
Thinking I’ve lost my wallet
Making a major mistake and not seeing any way to recover
Big dogs that bark at children
First hearing that someone I know is in the hospital
Making big commitments to other people
When a friend gives me a book I know I don’t want to read and says, “Let me know what you think.”
Getting burnt out but feeling trapped in whatever I’m doing
My desire for excitement at the expense of importance
My desire for personal significance
Looking like a fake
Being content in being boring
Speaking freely about what I feel
Making myself vulnerable
Making other people look bad and then losing friends as a result
Writing here about topics like sex, how my mind actually works, stupid things my friends have done, stupid things I’d like to do, and so on
Writing a lousy draft of a book, getting stuck in that structure or burnt out, and then never writing the amazing version
Throwing up in public after trying to force myself to eat something I don’t like to eat
Vomiting all over someone I know but not too well
Publishing blog posts late at night without spending much time editing or considering the consequences of posting them
Not making it to the restroom in time, especially when I’m sick and out in public
Public restrooms that are out of toilet paper
Eye contact through an entire conversation
Spending the last years of my life in a nursing home
Spending the last weeks/months of my life in a hospital
Confronting someone, a friend
Someone citing my example as a reason for why they did something stupid
Getting married but being a lousy husband
Having children but being a lousy father
Wasting time
Influencing no one
Living through an disaster where everyone else either loses everything or gets killed but I don’t
People I love getting sick and slowly declining, slowly fading away
Failing to speak up when I know I should
A ton of other things I’m not willing to list here… yet
Living in fear
As Jim Elliot said, living an ordinary life while claiming to know an extraordinary God
