"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.

[2] 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.

[3] 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.

[4] 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.

[5] 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(huì)碰到。驚恐大都是對(duì)危險(xiǎn)倩況的一種積極反應(yīng)。不過(guò)，有時(shí)驚恐會(huì)達(dá)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(jīng)歷的情況。

[2]我答應(yīng)幫弟弟麥克從東海岸把家搬到加利福尼亞州。到時(shí)他將開(kāi)租來(lái)的卡車?yán)先考沂玻腋诤竺鎺退研≤囬_(kāi)過(guò)去，然后乘飛機(jī)返回。我們估計(jì)這趟旅行很簡(jiǎn)單，中途在四五家汽車旅館落落腳就行了。

[3]我長(zhǎng)這么大，大多生活和工作在沿海的佐治亞州，沒(méi)有多少長(zhǎng)途駕駛的經(jīng)驗(yàn)。今天回想起來(lái)，其實(shí)我每逢開(kāi)車過(guò)小橋、走山路時(shí)都提心吊膽。在為此行作準(zhǔn)備時(shí)，我心里就開(kāi)始為即將面對(duì)的山路忐忑不安。不過(guò)當(dāng)時(shí)我以為自己能夠適應(yīng)。

[4]上路后的第一程，我們就碰上了藍(lán)脊山脈附近高懸的大橋。我簡(jiǎn)直緊張得透不過(guò)氣來(lái)，心頭發(fā)緊，有種人仰馬翻的感覺(jué)。我極力想把車開(kāi)向里側(cè)一些，躲開(kāi)那可能滑下陡坡的邊沿。我緊緊地握著方向盤，手指關(guān)節(jié)繃得沒(méi)有了血色。每穿過(guò)一座高橋我就會(huì)大大地舒一口氣，可等在前面的是又一個(gè)令人畏懼的關(guān)口。