Baby Steps Forward
I've always been a late bloomer in nearly every sense of the word (except perhaps mentally), and even though in some aspects of my existence, I cling to Dave Barry's assertion that "you can be immature forever", it's still nice to notice a few areas here and there where I'm actually maturing slightly.
To use a rather piddly example: until -- well, a week ago, I suppose -- I couldn't put anything in (or near) my eye(s). I was terrible at using eye drops, and if anything got near my eye, I would flinch. I was the worst at that whole "made you flinch" game that was inexplicably popular in middle school.
But this week I've been putting these prescription eyedrops in my eye with no problems whatsoever. I'm even able to pull my eyelid slightly back, which is something I couldn't have done a year ago. Perhaps it's because I know the consequences of not putting them in. (A few years back I had to have eyelid surgery due to letting this exact same problem go for too long. I'm just hoping I've caught it in time this time.)
So maybe it's not that I've necessarily "matured" in this area, so much as I'm more frightened of the prospect of eye surgery (again) than any liquid.
[Hmmm... maybe this means I could actually wear contacts now? (Assuming they make 'em strong enough. They might have to be coke-bottle-thick contacts, which would be awkward.)]
Also, my lifelong phobia of yellowjackets/wasps/hornets has lessened somewhat. (This originally came about when, over a four-year period of my early childhood, I was stung over a half-dozen times. I've been avoiding them like the plague ever since.)
So... now instead of going into Full Panic Mode (FPM), I just get really, really nervous. Which isn't much of an improvement, but it's something. (Incidentally, I have no idea how allergic I may or may not be to them now, since it's been 20 years since I was last stung.)
Let's see, what else... I've mostly eradicated my anti-bandwagon mentality, which in the past had kept me from enjoying certain things, based almost exclusively on the principle that "everybody and their cousin was into it." I've even allowed myself to check out the likes of YouTube™ and MySpace™, despite my previous aversion to them.
(I don't know, maybe that's why I'm more willing to write on here these days. Though I suspect that was more of an interface/user-friendliness issue for me. And now I'm full-on rambling. Sorry 'bout that.)
If I thought about it long enough, I'd probably be able to come up with better examples than these; they're just the most recent developments/realizations that come to mind.
I've even made peace with the predominantly boring nature of these sorts of entries, without feeling compelled to spice them up just out of principle.
[Though in the future, I may try to include more car chases.]
To use a rather piddly example: until -- well, a week ago, I suppose -- I couldn't put anything in (or near) my eye(s). I was terrible at using eye drops, and if anything got near my eye, I would flinch. I was the worst at that whole "made you flinch" game that was inexplicably popular in middle school.
But this week I've been putting these prescription eyedrops in my eye with no problems whatsoever. I'm even able to pull my eyelid slightly back, which is something I couldn't have done a year ago. Perhaps it's because I know the consequences of not putting them in. (A few years back I had to have eyelid surgery due to letting this exact same problem go for too long. I'm just hoping I've caught it in time this time.)
So maybe it's not that I've necessarily "matured" in this area, so much as I'm more frightened of the prospect of eye surgery (again) than any liquid.
[Hmmm... maybe this means I could actually wear contacts now? (Assuming they make 'em strong enough. They might have to be coke-bottle-thick contacts, which would be awkward.)]
Also, my lifelong phobia of yellowjackets/wasps/hornets has lessened somewhat. (This originally came about when, over a four-year period of my early childhood, I was stung over a half-dozen times. I've been avoiding them like the plague ever since.)
So... now instead of going into Full Panic Mode (FPM), I just get really, really nervous. Which isn't much of an improvement, but it's something. (Incidentally, I have no idea how allergic I may or may not be to them now, since it's been 20 years since I was last stung.)
Let's see, what else... I've mostly eradicated my anti-bandwagon mentality, which in the past had kept me from enjoying certain things, based almost exclusively on the principle that "everybody and their cousin was into it." I've even allowed myself to check out the likes of YouTube™ and MySpace™, despite my previous aversion to them.
(I don't know, maybe that's why I'm more willing to write on here these days. Though I suspect that was more of an interface/user-friendliness issue for me. And now I'm full-on rambling. Sorry 'bout that.)
If I thought about it long enough, I'd probably be able to come up with better examples than these; they're just the most recent developments/realizations that come to mind.
I've even made peace with the predominantly boring nature of these sorts of entries, without feeling compelled to spice them up just out of principle.
[Though in the future, I may try to include more car chases.]