Beware of the dog
I've been scared of dogs for as long as I remember. When I was little, I was allergic to them and would have horrible reactions that triggered my asthma, so I learned that if I touched a dog, I would soon be struggling to breath. In our apartment complex in Playa, when I walk up the stairs to our door, sometimes a dog in one of the other flats starts barking. My heart rate goes up, my chest feels tight and I'm scared - I pick up my pace and almost run up the rest of the steps. This went on for a couple of weeks, until I saw the dog in question. It was tiny, a chihuahua... I felt so stupid. How could I be scared of this thing? There was no way it could hurt me.I wonder how much of the anxiety I have in my life is as unfounded as the fear I had of that barking dog.