"Fear is a fact of life everyone faces from time to time. In most cases fearis a healthy reaction to a dangerous situation. But sometimes fear can be so extreme, so overwhelming, that it interferes with normal living. That is what happened to me driving cross-country last summer.
I’d agreed to help my brother, Mac, move from the East Coast to California. He would drive a rental truck loaded with his belongings and I would follow him in his sedan, then fly back. We figured it would be a simple trip, with four or five motel stops along the way.
Living and working in coastal Georgia for most of my life, I did not have a great deal of long-distance driving experience. Looking back on it today, I can see that I’d always felt a twinge of fear when driving over small bridges and along hilly highways. And as I was getting ready for the trip I had a vague concern about the steep mountain roads that lay ahead. But I thought I would get used to them.
As we crossed some high bridges near the Blue Ridge Mountains on the first leg of our trip, a kind of breathlessness gripped me, a sinking, rolling sensation in the pit of my stomach. I tended to veer slightly away from the edge of the roadway and the drop-off beyond. My knuckles whitened from my tense grip on the steering wheel. At the end of each bridge, a great rush of relief would come over me, only to be replaced in short order by fear of the next obstacle.
When we stopped in Nashville the first night, I mentioned my feelings to Mac, who is the practical sort. "Oh, that’s nothing," he said cheerfully . "Lots of people hate driving on mountain roads and high bridges. Just turn up the music on your radio and focus on that. Keep your mind occupied."
心驚膽顫的事情人人在生活中都偶爾會碰到。驚恐大都是對危險倩況的一種積極反應。不過，有時驚恐會達到極端、不堪承受的程度，以至干擾正常的生活。這正是我去年夏天在駕車橫穿北美大陸途中所經歷的情況。
我答應幫弟弟麥克從東海岸把家搬到加利福尼亞州。到時他將開租來的卡車拉上全部家什，我跟在后面幫他把小車開過去，然后乘飛機返回。我們估計這趟旅行很簡單，中途在四五家汽車旅館落落腳就行了。
我長這么大，大多生活和工作在沿海的佐治亞州，沒有多少長途駕駛的經驗。今天回想起來，其實我每逢開車過小橋、走山路時都提心吊膽。在為此行作準備時，我心里就開始為即將面對的山路忐忑不安。不過當時我以為自己能夠適應。
上路后的第一程，我們就碰上了藍脊山脈附近高懸的大橋。我簡直緊張得透不過氣來，心頭發緊，有種人仰馬翻的感覺。我極力想把車開向里側一些，躲開那可能滑下陡坡的邊沿。我緊緊地握著方向盤，手指關節繃得沒有了血色。每穿過一座高橋我就會大大地舒一口氣，可等在前面的是又一個令人畏懼的關口。
旅程的第一天晚上，我們停在了納什維爾。我對麥克談了自己的感受。他是那種務實的人。“哦，沒關系，”他興致勃勃地說，“許多人害怕走山路、過高橋。只要打開收音機專心聽音樂就行。不要胡思亂想。”
