The Original Classic: Overcoming Childhood Fears with a Touch of Humor

Since I was a kid, I’ve always had this irrational fear of something lurking under my bed at night. It didn’t matter how many times my parents reassured me or how many nights passed without anything happening—just the thought of some mysterious creature hiding in the shadows beneath my mattress was enough to send shivers down my spine. It became such a persistent fear that I finally decided to seek professional help.

I went to a psychiatrist, ready to spill my heart out. He listened patiently, nodding as I described the panic that gripped me every night when the lights went out. He smiled reassuringly and said, “Well, you’ve come to the right place. Just put yourself in my hands for one year. Come see me three times a week, and together we’ll work through these fears. By the time we’re done, you’ll sleep peacefully.”

That sounded promising. I was hopeful. But then, I asked, “How much do you charge per visit?”

“$80 per session,” he replied matter-of-factly.

I did some quick math in my head. Three times a week, $80 per visit, for an entire year? That added up to a staggering amount! I hesitated before saying, “I’ll have to think about it. I’ll sleep on it, and if I decide to go through with it, I’ll be back.”

He nodded, as if he had heard that line a thousand times before, and we parted ways.

Fast forward six months later, I was walking down the street when I unexpectedly ran into the psychiatrist. He recognized me instantly and stopped to ask, “Hey, I never saw you back at my office. Did you find another way to deal with your fear?”

I grinned and said, “Yep, and it only cost me ten bucks!”

He raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued. “Ten bucks? How did you manage that?”

“Well,” I said, barely able to contain my amusement, “a bartender gave me the best advice I’ve ever received.”

“A bartender?” he repeated, almost offended by the thought. “And what, may I ask, did this so-called expert tell you?”

I smirked and said, “He told me to cut the legs off my bed. Now there’s no space for anything to hide under there!”

The psychiatrist just stood there, speechless. I could tell he didn’t find it nearly as funny as I did, but to me, it was a stroke of genius. Not only did I conquer my childhood fear in the simplest way possible, but I also saved a fortune! In fact, I saved so much money that I went out and bought myself a brand-new SUV. Talk about a win-win situation!

This story perfectly illustrates how sometimes, the best solutions to our problems aren’t necessarily the most expensive or complicated. We often overthink our fears, searching for deep psychological explanations when, in reality, the fix can be as simple as removing the source of our anxiety.

It also highlights the beauty of looking at life with a sense of humor. Fear, in many ways, is just our imagination running wild, creating scenarios that are far worse than reality. While therapy is undeniably valuable and essential for many issues, sometimes a different perspective—perhaps even a humorous one—can do wonders.

And let’s not forget the practicality of the bartender’s advice. How often do we let small worries fester when a quick, straightforward solution is right in front of us? Instead of paying hundreds of dollars trying to dissect every detail of the fear, I simply removed the one thing that fueled it. No space under the bed, no monster. End of story.

Of course, this isn’t to say that every fear in life can be solved with such a simple trick. Some anxieties run deep and require real work to overcome. But this tale serves as a lighthearted reminder that sometimes, we just need to take a step back and ask ourselves if there’s a simpler way to deal with what’s troubling us.

So, the next time you find yourself lying awake at night, haunted by something that might not even be real, take a moment to think—what would the bartender do? Maybe, just maybe, the answer is far easier than you think.