GTV, I could have written your post...of late I too have been in this place you are currently in...oh god did I so want someone to protect me, tell me the world is an ok place, inject me with some courage...then I re-read the line I have often seen, "courage isn't being without fear, courage is facing our fears"...unyet it feels so messy, I feel as if I should sit down with fear and have a very rational conversation, then dust myself down, wish fear farewell and off I trot, accept its not like that..but if you find someone you trust to sit and talk about these fears with them, with time, the intensity and the power of the fear will ease...