Ever since I was a kid, I’ve had an irrational fear of something lurking under my bed at night. No matter how many times I checked, how many nights passed without anything happening, or how much my parents reassured me, the thought of a mysterious presence hiding in the darkness beneath my mattress sent chills down my spine. It was a fear I couldn’t shake, so I finally decided to seek professional help.
Determined to confront my fears, I booked an appointment with a psychiatrist. As I sat in his cozy office, I laid it all out—how I would lie awake at night, unable to sleep because of the terrifying thought that something was hiding just inches away from me. The psychiatrist listened attentively, nodding occasionally, before offering a reassuring smile.
“Well,” he said, “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 be sleeping soundly.”
That sounded promising. For the first time in a while, I felt hopeful. However, there was still one important question I needed to ask. “How much do you charge per session?”
“$80 per visit,” he replied matter-of-factly.
I did some quick mental calculations. Three sessions a week, $80 each—this was going to be expensive! Over the course of a year, that would add up to a staggering amount. I hesitated, then finally said, “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 knowingly, as if he had heard those words countless times before, and we parted ways.
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. “Yep, and it only cost me ten bucks!”
His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Ten bucks? How in the world did you manage that?”
“Well,” I said, struggling to hold back my laughter, “a bartender gave me the best advice I’ve ever received.”
“A bartender?” he repeated, his skepticism evident. “And what exactly did this so-called expert tell you?”
Still grinning, I replied, “He told me to cut the legs off my bed. Now there’s no space for anything to hide under there!”
The psychiatrist just stared at me, momentarily speechless. I could tell he wasn’t as amused as I was, but I found it hilarious. Not only had I conquered my childhood fear in the simplest way possible, but I had 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!
This story is a great example of how sometimes, the best solutions to our problems aren’t the most expensive or complicated ones. We tend to overanalyze our fears, looking for deep psychological explanations, when in reality, the fix can be as simple as removing the source of our anxiety.
It also highlights the power of humor in facing life’s challenges. Fear often comes from our imagination running wild, creating scenarios far worse than reality. While therapy is undeniably valuable and necessary for many issues, sometimes a fresh perspective—perhaps even a humorous one—can be just as powerful.
And let’s not overlook the practicality of the bartender’s advice. How often do we let small worries consume us when a simple solution is right in front of us? Instead of spending hundreds of dollars analyzing my fear, I eliminated the problem at its root. No space under the bed? No monster. End of story.
Of course, not every fear can be solved this easily. Some anxieties run deep and require real effort to overcome. But this little anecdote is a lighthearted reminder that sometimes, we just need to step back and ask ourselves if there’s an easier way to deal with our worries.
So, the next time you find yourself lying awake at night, haunted by a fear that might not even be real, take a moment to ask yourself—what would the bartender do? Maybe, just maybe, the answer is far simpler than you think.
