Time to stop being afraid for no good reason

Like many kids, I grew up afraid of lots of things.

Maybe I had a longer list than many, but I’m sure they all made sense at the time: Dentists, needles, bees, snakes, putting my head underwater, roller coasters, heights, fastballs thrown anywhere near my head, pimentos stuffed in green olives. I suppose that last one was more a dislike than a fear, but you could always spot my plate at holiday dinners — it was the one with piled-up pimentos that I had carefully picked out of the olives.

The dentist scared me so much I would often go without Novocain because I feared the needle more than the d...