The Brown Recluse Bites - 7 Steps of Treatment

The Brown Recluse Bites - 7 Steps of Treatment
There are currently more than 20000 spider species discovered, but just a few of them can really give you more than a scary moment when you see them. Actually there are just a few that can treat and harm you, such as the Hobo and Yellow Sac Spider, but only the well renowned Black Widow and Brown Recluse can give you a disease or an illness or even be life threatening.

Now, we will focus on the Brown Recluse. The Brown Recluse can be easily found in the entire United States of America, but mostly it is seen in the Southeastern and Midwestern lands. The most favorite pray of this spider are the children under 8 years old, because they usually die because of the highly powerful poison that the spider is carrying.
The perfect habitats for the Brown Recluse are definitely the dry places such as barns, basements or attics and even in small objects such as cupboards or old tires. It seems to feel comfortable in the most unimaginable places, so be very careful. Be very careful also when you encounter a Brown Recluse. In any way don't make the spider feel threatened in any manor, because when they feel threat they will attack.

Although the Brown Recluse doesn't carry high quantities of venom, it is very concentrated, almost pure and, the most important, very powerful. It is said that this spider's venom is more poisonous than one of a rattle snake. The main affections that it causes are the kidney failure, severe coma, or even death, all of them after having painful gangrene in the immediate skin around the Brown Recluse bites.

Many people don't seem to care or to have an interest to get a treatment after they get bite by the Brown Recluse. Many of them feel on that moment a burning combined with an itching sensation, and don't give a great importance to this fact. Sometimes the manifestations after the spider's bite can get very serious and severe such as having fever, nausea or even muscle pains, days after the Brown Recluse's bite. The best action you can do after you suspect you have been bitten by this dangerous spider is to seek immediate medical attention from a specialized doctor.

The only method to identify if you were or not bitten by a Brown Recluse spider is to contact a specialized doctor that will conduct on you a series of medical tests such as a complete blood count (CBC), complete urine and electrolytes test and also take the history of the bite in terms of time and location.
In meantime you can also use the First Aid Kit before the ambulance comes and takes you to your local hospital, or your family doctor comes and begin the treatment. The things you can do yourself are:

Wash skin around the bite with cold water and soap
Apply ice packs on the spiders bite to reduce partially the imminent swelling
If it is possible raise the leg or arm above the hearth line
Be calm and take some pain reliefs

It is very important not to apply any creams or to suck out the highly dangerous venom. It will only spread the venom around the body and make your situation worse.
Most probably, you will be administrated by the specialized doctor a tetanus shot and some antihistamine tablets and other pain reliefs. Do not take any dapsone or steroids, because their use in this medical issue is very controversial.

After you will receive the prescribed treatment, you will must to go regularly to a hospital or clinic in order to see the evolution in time of the whole area of the bite. Sometimes you will need to be hospitalized or to have some plastic surgeries.

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Log Racks - Not Just For Those Who Fear the Elements

 Log Racks - Not Just For Those Who Fear the Elements
Allow me a moment to tell you about my growing up in California - where we equate snow with going to trendy ski resorts wearing our super-cute designer snow clothes. Growing up in the Wild West was quite an experience: endless summer all year long, and sunshine and warm weather on Christmas Day. Of course, living in California meant that I grew up on a constant diet of barbecue, and spent my evenings on the beach enjoying bonfires while gazing across the beautiful Pacific Ocean. Of course, this required some of the finest woods known to man, including pristine red oak, and even cedar. Are you wondering yet what exactly this has to do with log racks? Keep reading, I'll explain as we go on.

As a strapping young man growing up on a small farm, it was my assigned duty to not only help split the logs, but to also stack the wood once split. Wanting to protect my father's hard-earned investment, the first log rack I ever own was self-built and home made. It was fashioned out of old cement slabs and rebar; a far cry from the beautiful log rack that I own today. While crude, it helped to keep the wood in a neat and orderly fashion. The only downfall was that the log rack did nothing to protect the quality of the wood itself. As my family used nearly two cords of wood every year (don't laugh; we liked our wood), we would find that the logs towards the top would be crisp and full of fresh fuel, while those towards the bottom would house bugs of all kinds, and promote the growth of dry rot.

Now do you understand what this has to do with log racks? The moral of this interesting story is that if you have large quantities of wood, you need a log rack. While you may think that are only good for those who live in the north, log racks are not just good for those who need to protect their wood from the wind, snow, and humidity. Indeed, racks are also necessary for those who want to make sure their firewood stays of the highest quality.
Those who live along the southwest coast of California know what I'm talking about when I say "El Nino:" a weather phenomenon that brings weeks of rain, followed by power outages and even minor flooding. When the rain comes, your wood is soaked to the core, and it takes a long time to dry out. As logs love the water, all moisture retained by the logs can result in the growth of mold and rot from within. And this is how dry rot starts -- once it begins, it will eat away and ruin your logs. But by keeping your wood in a log rack, you will be ensuring the quality of your wood, from start to finish.

Of course, this doesn't exclude the fact that bugs, spiders, and other vermin that love the dark, secluded places that a random wood pile would give them. Spiders indigenous to the warmer climates of the west (including the often fatal Black Widow) love to hang out in dark, cool places. And the empty spaces in your pile between logs serve as the perfect breeding place. If you don't pay careful attention while selecting logs, you could easily be bitten by a black widow, or many other things unpleasant, which could result in death. By putting your logs in a log rack, you are eliminating the wasted space that bugs can create a home in, you are ensuring the safety of your family for years to come, and keeping your logs organized and easy to access wherever you need.

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The Soft Tip Darts Game

The Soft Tip Darts Game
The electronic dart board is definitely a hit, especially for home users as they are safer than the old style darts thanks to the soft tip darts used in the game. The soft tips are made from plastic so as not to damage the dartboard, and consequently won't damage your walls so much either. Also the maximum weight allowed is set at 20grams, which is one of the reasons the old style darters are against the new electronic game, as they prefer the heavier steel tip darts that can be used on the bristle boards. However being made of plastic has its disadvantages too, as the tips can bend or break when in use so you will need plenty of spares for them as well. Fortunately they are very cheap and easily replaced as they screw into the barrel so can be unscrewed and replaced in seconds using a dart tool.

All the major manufacturers now produce soft tip darts, with the famous black widow darts set from Laserdarts and the devastators from Bottelsen, just to name a couple and there are a lot of convertible darts sets around which give you a set of screw in steel tips as well as soft tips, like the skinnys from Bottelsen, so you can use the same darts for both the soft tip and the steel tip games, which is neat. The skinnys also have the famous hammerhead action steel tip inserts that reduce those infamous bounce outs on the wires of the bristle boards. Also the shafts and flights for the soft tip darts are just the same as for steel tip darts.

The black widow soft tips have the spider grip aluminium shafts which are supposed to grip the flights better; 4 wires made of steel are embedded into the aluminum and covered in rubber so that the wires grip hold of the flights tightly and you can choose from 16, 18 and 20 gram weights; so if you are in to arachnids, these are for you. They even have a set with a gold colored finish that look really cool called Gold Widow darts, (guess what color the black widow darts are?). Bottelsen have got some great soft tip darts as well, their devastators are very popular as well as the Nemesis set, which have the Bottelsen spinning shafts.

The Piranha is one of the most popular darts in the soft tip world and comes in any weight you want from 12 up to 20 grams and has the new feature from Piranha, the Razor Grip which is an aggressive grip that helps stop any slippage when you throw. They also come with "Top Spin" spinning shafts that can rotate so if hit by a dart whilst in the board it spins the flight out of the way so reducing the deflection of the dart coming in.
The darts that come with the dart board sets are err..... how can I put it, not very good, so even the cheaper Soft tip Darts at $20-$30 or so would be a great improvement on those, so if you get one of the all in dartboard sets it is definitely worth investing in a decent set of darts as well.

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Restrict Search Engine Access for Optimization

 Restrict Search Engine Access for Optimization
Robots.txt is one of the many tools a SEO service provider uses. This is basically a text file they put in the ftp directory of the site. This file is the first file search engine crawlers check to see if there are special instructions for them. These instructions are in fact very easy ones like "enter" or "don't enter." However the only crawlers in the Internet are not search engine spiders. There are also some "black widows" that crawl in the web to find sensitive information. The best way to restrict access to those black widows is setting up a simple password script. Of course not every web page has sensitive information and you may want to restrict access to the good intentioned spiders of the search engines.

Maybe your web site has a complex structure with lots of internal links. Or maybe there are lots of keywords inside the site that cause formation of different URL's with the same content. You may want to restrict access to more than one page with the same content. If that is the case, Robots.txt file can solve your problem easily. When using this file you must be careful not to put the file on the highest level of your site. If you do this the crawlers don't visit any part of your site. As an example, if you put the robots text to the URL, " http:// www. yoursite.com/ robot.txt", the crawler does not visit any address starting with your base URL. So to stop a crawler from entering a link from your site you must put it under its own folder like " http:// www. yoursite.com /unwantedlink /robot.txt"
The syntax of robots.txt is as follows:

User-agent: *
Disallow: /
The first line specifies the crawler you don't want to access to your site. The asterisk means "all the crawlers." This means you can specify the search engine crawlers you don't want. In theory this feature should stop the black widows we talked about but because they have malicious intent they don't obey the rules and check the robots.txt. The second line must be as clear as it seems. It disallows the crawlers from entering this folder making your site easier to be indexed by search engine indexers.

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My Pet Tarantula

My Pet Tarantula
I have a pet tarantula. Her name is Lucretia. Lucretia and I have been together for about two years now. I have never been a big fan of spiders. You might even say that I'm a bit Arachnophobic (afraid of spiders). Sure, the little featherweight Parlor spiders that most of us live with everyday without hardly noticing are no big deal. But a Tarantula, a big, hairy, poisonous Tarantula? Yikes!

Well, here's how Lucretia found her way into my life. About two years ago I moved into a basement apartment of a friend's place. The girl who had lived there before me had gone to Arizona but hadn't quite finished moving all of her stuff out. There was a room of the basement with a bed sheet over the doorway and a sign that said "Keep Out". Some of the previous tenants stuff was still in there so I had agreed to leave that room alone until she returned for it as long as I could still move in.

So a couple of weeks went by and the girl came back from Arizona. She was very nice, and very pretty, so her and I got along quite well from the start. She asked me if by chance I had been taking care of her spider. "Spider, what spider" I said. Then she told me about her pet tarantula that had been living in that sheeted off room while she had been away in Arizona. At this point I was trying to remain calm and keep my cool rather than do what would have come quite naturally: Shriek in horror! But that type of behavior has never impressed a lady in my experience, so I held my tongue.

The girl from Arizona actually only moved upstairs so we became good friends in a short time. I agreed to let the tarantula stay in the basement with me.
As I've been caring for this tarantula for quite some time now, I've actually become quite fascinated with it. I did a bit of research and found the most interesting factoid concerning the tarantula's lifespan. Now of course, male spiders of any kind seem to typically draw the short straw when it comes to longevity. The male black widow is famous for being eaten by its mate soon after fertilizing her eggs. Hence the saying about the female black widow "She mates and she kills".

While the male tarantula isn't actually eaten by its mate, it does have a much shorter lifespan. The male tarantula only lives one or two years tops while the female can live for an incredible average of 25 years or more! That's how I know that Lucretia is a female. She was with the Arizona girl for several years before I even met her so she has to be female.
Anyway, the tarantula is probably one of the easiest pets to take care of. Every two or three weeks I put 8 to 12 live crickets in her tank which she eats at her leisure. Other than that I keep about ¼" of water in a small bowl for her and that's it. She seems to do just fine living in an ambient temperature (68 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit most of the time in my house).
In two short years I've gone from being Arachnophobic to being a guy who sleeps with a live tarantula in his bedroom. I also have a new girlfriend who often sleeps in my bedroom as well, you know, the pretty one from Arizona. Life is good!

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Common Insects and Other Pests Indigenous to Las Vegas

Common Insects and Other Pests Indigenous to Las Vegas
If you live in Las Vegas or are planning to move there soon, you should know that in the southern Nevada desert, you're never really alone in your home! As in every other place in the country, every house has to deal with insects, spiders, and other pests of one kind or another; but in the desert, some of these nuisances can be downright deadly. Here is a snapshot look at some of the most commonly found pests in and around the Las Vegas area that are indigenous to this part of the country.

Oriental cockroaches
Cockroaches in the desert? Absolutely! Although these carriers of germs and disease are more commonly associated with highly humid areas, the oriental variety has carved out a little niche for itself in the southern Nevada desert lands. They are smaller than most of their cousins, but they still can contaminate food just as efficiently. Keeping your house clean and caulking small crevices to the outside are great deterrents.

Black Widow and Brown Recluse Spiders
Although the Black Widow is more common, Brown Recluse spiders are also found in the Las Vegas area. Both of these spiders fight against potential enemies with highly toxic venom, making their bites nothing to laugh at. The Black Widow's venom is 15 times stronger than a rattlesnake's, and the skin around a Brown Recluse bite will quickly degenerate and die, causing permanent scaring.

Africanized Honeybees (or Killer Bees)
Killer Bees have been in the Las Vegas area for about a decade, having moved northward from Mexico. Although they are hard to physically distinguish from their European cousins, it is their behavior that most often betrays their presence. They are highly aggressive and more liable to sting, and they've been known to chase people relentlessly for long distances.
Your best defense against these pests is to retain a good Las Vegas pest control specialist, and have him make regular visits to your home.

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Bugs To Watch Out For In The Wilderness

Bugs To Watch Out For In The Wilderness

There are certain bugs that you really need to look out for when you are outdoors. Really, when you go out into the wilderness, you are entering insect territory. Don't feel bad if the bugs start biting you or even stinging you, because you have now entered their land. It's nothing personal - they just want to look out for themselves like every other living thing on the planet.
Because there are so many bugs around, make sure that you wear insect-repellant anytime that you step outdoors into the wilderness. An insect-repellant can make you seem invisible to a bug, but wearing perfume or cologne might make you seem even more attractive. This is the same with brightly colored clothing as many types of insects are attracted to bright colors.
Here are a couple bugs that you really need to look out for...

Spiders
A number of different spiders are some of the most poisonous insects on the planet. Black widows are among the deadliest. You can easily and quickly recognize a black widow because they have an hourglass shape body as well as a white, red or orange spot on their abdomen. If you get bitten by a black widow, you can have severe pain, shivering, weakness and sweats that can last several days and even lead to more serious issues.
You should also take a look at the Fiddleback spider, an insect that you want to watch out for. It has a light spot on its back that resembles a violin, hence its name. You might have also heard this type of spider called a Brown Recluse because it hides in dark places. If you are bitten by a brown recluse, you might suffer from tissue degeneration around the site of the bite.

Scorpions
Depending on where you are, you may or may not need to watch out for scorpions. They are mostly present in dry and hot climates like deserts. Most of them are either brown or black and they live a nocturnal life pattern, which means they are really only active at night. They have adapted to their harsh climate by developing a light yellow or green coloring so they can blend into the environment around them. They grow to an average of about 2 1/2 cm but there are some that can grow as large as 20 cm, mostly in Central America.
They sting with jointed tails and can cause immense pain. If you are stung by a scorpion, you should seek medical attention immediately because some are very poisonous. You should not confuse a scorpion with a Whip Scorpion or a Vinegar Roon, both of which have straight tails.

Bees and wasps
You can almost instantly recognized a bee because most of them have a plump and hairy body while a wasp or hornet is slender and has absolutely no hair. Some of these insects live in the ground in colonies while others build their homes hanging off of rooftops or branches.
Being stung by a bee or a wasp is more serious than most people take it. Anywhere from 8% to 12% of the human population has a severe allergy to bee stings, so any time that you are stung, you should seek medical attention. When a bee stings you, it will leave its stinger inside of your skin, along with a venom sac that will continue to pump venom into your system.
Keep in mind that you should be very low conscious of insects anytime that you are out in the wilderness. If you ever find yourself battling a colony of insects, just run away as quickly as you can and try to get to a safe place. Keeping your body close to a heat source like a campfire will help reduce the risk of being attacked by stinging insects.

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A Look at Common Northwest Insects

 A Look at Common Northwest Insects
Being in the Pacific Northwest is wonderful in the summer, when campers and hikers can relax in the cool shade of pine trees, listen to the sound of a trickling creek and enjoy the aroma of wild blackberries. What isn't wonderful, however, are the insects you encounter.
Prepare yourself for the dangerous insects you may encounter while hiking or camping in the Northwest with this guide to common outdoor pests:

Stinging Offenders: Bees and Wasps
Unless you're allergic to their bite or sting, bees and wasps are more annoying than they are dangerous. Good hiking safety practices include taking care around flowering flora, dead or hollow trees, and garbage cans. Do not tamper with hives or nests, as this may provoke bees and wasps to attack.
Avoid leaving food out in the open, as this will attract wasps. Some campers have found that laying out anti-static dryer sheets on a picnic table helps keep wasps away.

Itchy Offenders: Mosquitoes
Mosquitoes are the insect people find most bothersome. Not only do their bites cause itching, but mosquitoes can transmit the West Nile virus. Wear a lightweight, long-sleeved shirt and pants, especially if you're in an area famous for its pests.
Insect repellant is a must. Prevent bites to your hands and face by applying an insect repellant that's safe to use all over your body. Avoid areas with still water, such as ponds or small lakes.

Eight-Legged Offenders: Arachnids
While most of the Northwest's spiders are harmless, there are a couple of species to be aware of: the black widow and the brown recluse.
The black widow is recognizable by its black, glossy look and bulbous abdomen. The underside of its belly has an hourglass shape that's can range from red to orange or white. The black widow is a highly venomous spider - you'll instantly know if you are bitten by one.
The brown recluse spider is gray, brown or dark yellow in color. The top part of its body is bisected by a black line, giving the spider the appearance of a small violin. Although the brown recluse is shy, its bite can cause necrosis. It can take a couple of hours to feel the effects of this spider's bite.
Prevention is the best protection against spiders. One good camping safety practice is to use an LED flashlight when looking for items in the dark. Wear thick gloves when going through brush, collecting firewood or looking under rocks. Carefully examine your shoes and clothes before putting them on.

Blood-Sucking Offenders: Ticks
Ticks are nasty creatures that mostly live in trees. When these parasites see potential host, they jump on and bury their heads into the skin. Ticks can carry lyme disease or Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
The best chemical defense against ticks is an insect repellent containing DEET. In wooded areas, wear a hat, a long-sleeved shirt tucked into pants, and long pants tucked into socks or boots.

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How To Clean Spiderwebs

How To Clean Spiderwebs
"There are four things which are little on the earth, but they are exceedingly wise: ants...rock badgers...locusts... The spider skilfully grasps with its hands and it is in kings' palaces." So wrote Solomon in the Biblical book of Proverbs (chapter 30 v 24-28). However, Proverbs said nothing about the slave or other worker who had to deal with the spiderwebs in odd corners of the palaces and lesser homes (hang on - maybe this person is the superwoman character described in the next chapter).

Spiderwebs are almost a cliché of neglect and poor housekeeping that have a haunted-house, attic or Miss Haversham air to them. For this reason, most housekeepers wage war on them incessantly. And it's certainly undeniable that old spiderwebs filled with bits of dead flies, dust, fluff and other rubbish look ghastly.

Some people are nervous about spiders, even if they're short of full-blown arachnophobes. In the UK, at least, this is something of an unfounded fear. Few spiders in Europe are poisonous; the black widow of France, Italy and Spain being the major exception (two others, the sac spider and the violin or recluse spider are known to be dangerous). Even the fearsome-looking tarantula isn't particularly poisonous and most spiders, if they bite you at all, will do no worse than a wasp sting. (However, if you visit Australia, you will have to be more cautious, as they have a lot more poisonous spider species).

However, there are some good things to be said about spiders. A fresh and perfectly formed spiderweb is a masterpiece of design and delicacy - a spiderweb covered with dew or (rarer but even more exquisite) hoarfrost is a breathtaking sight, especially if sunlight catches it. Spiders are a completely environmentally friendly of killing flies, although you'd need a lot of spiders in order to control flies completely. And spiders are also a sign that your home does not contain too many toxins. If you can, get out of the mindset that spiders mean you are a poor housekeeper - be proud of the fact that your home has some biodiversity and can sustain a tiny ecosystem (especially if the spiders build webs on your houseplants). Children can often be fascinated by spiders, especially if they have read Charlotte's Web.

If you are spider-friendly, all you need to do is leave the spider alone until it reaches the end of its life - apparently, they eat their old webs when they need to make a new one. You may need to dust up the wings and other inedible bits that the spider will let fall after eating a larger insect. Once the spider has departed this world, then clean the web away.
The best way to clean a web away is with an old-fashioned feather duster, or else with a broom. Most of the people do that within the weekly house cleaning, but you may prefer doing it every month. If you have to clean a large number of old webs off a ceiling, then use a soft-bristled broom. Some people wrap a duster or soft cloth around the head of the broom to make removal of the webs from the broom easier, and this method also prevents smears of dust getting onto the ceiling.

If you don't want spiders in your house, don't kill one if you come across one. It won't hurt you (unless you are in a holiday home in France, Spain or Italy and suspect it's a black widow or some other nasty - learn what they look like from an online guide before you go. As a rough guide, black widows have red spots on a big black abdomen, sac spiders are yellow and have huge fangs, and violin spiders have very long legs). Scoop it up on a sheet of paper, a dustpan or even your hand, if you're brave enough, and take it outside.
If you do have the misfortune to encounter a more fearsome spider when holidaying overseas, don't panic. You have the advantage of size, strength and intelligence. Tarantulas can be encouraged out the door with a broom (or find someone to take you up on a dare to remove it bare handed) or ignored - some people keep tarantulas as pets. Poisonous spiders should be killed before anyone is bitten, especially if you have small children, elderly people or invalids in your house. Don't use flyspray - this can infuriate some species - but squash the spider with the underside of a shoe, a broom or any other handy object.

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Arachnophobia and Other Fears

 Arachnophobia and Other Fears
We had a little excitement this morning at home. My wife came out of the bathroom and said, quite calmly, "Ed, there's a big black spider in the bathtub." Since I was watching my daughter, Ella, at the time, I carried her in there to investigate. I was a bit surprised that my wife did not call it a Brown Recluse. That's our running joke. She grew up in Brown Recluse territory, and so whenever she sees a brownish spider she says "Ed, I just saw a Brown Recluse. Go get it." I gently remind her that the Brown Recluse does not live in Northern California as I gather up the culprit and take it outside.

When Ella and I looked in the tub, I could understand why Melissa had not called it a Brown Recluse. This spider was a deep shiny black. I'm usually pretty casual about spiders, knowing that the only dangerous spider in our area is the black widow, a spider I had never before seen. But the color of this one caused me to act with a bit more caution. And it was good that I did. When I gathered up the critter in a Tupperware bowl, I could see, through the translucent plastic, a distinctive red hourglass on the belly. Here was my first Black Widow.

Needless to say, my wife did not share in my scientific enthusiasm at this discovery. She promptly took Ella from my arms and commanded me to take the spider far away from the house. I was gratified and a bit surprised that she did not encourage me to immediately squash it.

Now I want to pause here and put in a bit of a plug for spiders. They get a bad rap. They take the blame for a lot of stuff they don't do: flea bites, tick bites, bed bug bites, even mosquito bites. You name it, spiders take the blame for it. Most spiders don't bite humans, others only bite when confronted, and of those that do bite, there are only a handful that are truly dangerous to humans. Even the bite of the supposedly deadly Black Widow is fatal in less than 1% of all instances.

And then there are the legends that have grown up around the infamous Brown Recluse. Over 60% of the medically diagnosed Brown Recluse bites occur in regions in which the spider does not live! How a spider that lives only in the South Central portion of the USA can be responsible for so many unexplained ailments here in California and elsewhere is beyond me.

Here's a brief excerpt from a spider info site to give you some perspective:
A recent summary of reported spider bites in the United States between 1989 and 1993 included fewer than 5,000 incidents per year. These numbers seem small when compared to the over 800,000 dog bites that required stitches each year. During the study period, dog bites were responsible for 20 deaths per year, and auto-deer collisions were associated with 130 annual deaths. You might be surprised to learn that there were no spider-bite related fatalities during that four-year period.

At this point, you may be wondering what this has to do with life coaching. Fear not, I do have a point I'm getting to. And as the good Dr. Seuss would say, "This may not seem important I know. But it is, and that's why I'm bothering telling you so."
How do you feel about spiders? Do you cringe when you see one walking on your wall? Do you quiver at the thought of one crawling up your leg? Where do those feelings come from? When you were a youngster, did someone in your family go into paroxysms of fear whenever a spider was spotted? Did you inherit that fear? And does that fear continue to control your relationship with these critters?

Ok, lets face it, a fear of spiders is not going to prevent you from living a successful, abundant, joyous life. But here's the catch: What fears do you harbor that DO prevent you from living that life? What other fears have you inherited from your family and friends and the culture around you? And how do those fears keep from becoming the person you have the potential to be?

Because our fears are almost always founded in the past, they appear much larger than they really are. When we experience a fear in the present, we're really reacting to the projection of a deep-rooted belief that was planted inside us long ago. Just as the shadow of a spider walking in front of a light appears huge and frightening, so too do our fears become magnified many times when we look at the projection. The reality of the spider, when viewed from a place of present-time awareness, is much less scary. So too do your fears become manageable when you shift your perception from the shadow to the source.
Fears thrive on the lies and exaggerations that are possible only in the dark, hidden places. As soon as you bring those fears out into the light you can begin to see them for what they really are. The trick, of course, is knowing how to pull those fears out into the light.
So here's your assignment:

When you see a spider (or a snake or a mouse or you look down from a balcony or get onto a plane or fill in the blank) and you notice the dread that lives in the pit of your stomach, know that you have a great opportunity to practice shifting your perception. So the next time you find yourself face to face with a spider, rather than running away or calling for reinforcements, try to stop and breathe for a moment and become an explorer of your inner world. If you need to catch the spider and place it in a hermetically sealed container in order to breathe, that's ok! And then see if you can observe that spider with the objectivity of a scientist.

This practice will serve you well the next time you find yourself confronted by a fear that really does hold you back from the life you want to live. When you feel yourself quaking as you prepare to give a presentation, when you watch your arms quivering as you walk into a job interview, when your mouth becomes drier than the Sahara desert as you share your portfolio with a gallery owner, whenever you notice yourself entering a place of fear, become a scientist, objectively exploring the phenomenon. Become a neutral observer of your own life. When you discover the source of your fear, you may be surprised to find that the reality is much less scary than the perception.

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