I'm not usually afraid of much, including knives. As you work with and sharpen your knives, you will learn more and more about how to use them properly. I agree with the advise of learning to use them properly. There is a reason that professionals use a pinch grip on a chef's knife for instance. It provides great vertical and lateral control. That translates into higher production speed and safer use. I agree that a larger knife is easier to control, that is if the food you are working with requires a larger knife. I use my 10 inch chef's knife for the greater part of my knife work. However, if I'm removing the hulls from strawberries, or slicing black olives, a paring knife is the go to tool. as it allows me greater fine control (use fingers to manipulate the blade rather than my hand and arm). Think of it like this; an axe is used to fell a tree. It has the weight and strength required for that job. But it is a heavy and cumbersome tool to use when trying to split boards unto kindling. The smaller hatchet is much more adept at that job.
Yes, I can hull strawberries and slice olives with the chef's knife, and have done so many times. But a light, sharp paring knife gets the job done faster, and with prettier results.
Purchase for yourself a good quality chef's knife in the 8 to 10 inch range, a boning knife (or good utility knife), and a paring knife. As you use these tools, take care of them. Clean them after each use, hone every time you use them, and sharpen when required. you will become comfortable with them.
Caution: When people get comfortable with things, they sometimes become careless, and fail to respect the tool. This is when accidents occur. I cut myself with my chef's knife when I first got comfortable using it to quickly slice and chop things. But I forgot to tuck in the thumb that was holding the food. I've never had a serious cut from a kitchen knife due to very fast reflexes, thankfully. But I've had a few close calls. But then again, I stepped off of a two story roof twice in the same day because I didn't respect the hight that I was working at. I was more concerned with what I was painting than where I was going

. Some very good falling techniques learned in judo classes saved me from injury. But I learned to pay atention to where I was going after that. The same with the near misses to my thumb with a sharp knife. Pain is a very good teacher. Let's hope you don't have to learn the hard way.
Fear will get you into trouble as much as overconfidence will. Just use good tools carefully, and your anxiety will disappear as your skill increases. Just don't get too overconfident, or you might just learn the hard way that the digits of your hand cut as easily as does a stalk of celery.
Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North