Topix Questions 7 "Can You Laugh At Yourself?" & 8 "Trying New or Uncomfortable Things" of 424

Question 7/424:  When you make a mistake that others find funny, are you able to laugh at yourself?

My knee jerk reaction or immediate response to this question is: No, I am not able to laugh at myself.  Context is important but generally speaking I think I do not handle embarrassment well.  If I’m doing something completely new to me, and the people around me know that it’s new to me and are being understanding to that and I mess up then I might be able to laugh that off.  Or, if we’re doing something for fun and the mistake is something inconsequential or genuinely funny, well then I think in that situation, too I could laugh it off.  However, I take great pride in what I do whether it be work or hobby I want to do things well, and to prove that I can do them well. 

Once, in fact the once and only time, I went paintballing, and the people who invited my friend and I there knew we were newbies and told us they would take care of us as far as gear and knowledge.  I believed them, and they did provide us with guns and paintballs but nothing else.  Now any veteran paintballer knows that you need a few very important things – like protective gear and CO2 canisters.  These people sent us out without CO2 canisters and then laughed at us when we came back pelted in bruises and paint stains.  I didn’t find it funny, nor did I appreciate how funny they found it.

If I make a mistake at work, I’m usually mortified, even if my boss says it’s not a big deal or a big issue.  If I’m honest, I quite simply don’t like being wrong.  Obviously, that is inevitable and if you’re not taught properly then you will probably do things wrong for a while, but I don’t enjoy that feeling.  Honestly this is probably a big part of why I struggle to try new things that require a skillset I don’t have, because I anticipate the embarrassment of not knowing or doing it wrong, and that makes me less interested in going and doing the new thing.

 

Question 8/424:  How often do you try new or uncomfortable things?  What’s a recent example?

I think that for the most part I am usually up to try anything once.  Obviously there are factors that will affect my willingness and ability to such as finance, if travel is involved, if time will need to be taken off of work, and the danger level.  I’ve gone through a few “Yes Man” phases in my life where I have said yes to anything that was offered to me that would put me in harms way.  It has allowed me to meet so many interesting characters and to experience so many different ways of living and really broaden my world view.  I wish I could say that in a more worldly way, but unfortunately most of my experiences have been pretty close to home. 

While I am willing to try new or uncomfortable things, I am much more likely to do so if I have someone I’m comfortable with me.  My best friend is usually the one I will try and convince to come along with me even if she doesn’t entirely participate and is just there for moral support.  Also, I have to say that the pandemic has changed a lot of things – obviously.  Now, I have to weigh whether or not the event is worth the risk of potentially being exposed to or catching COVID which is truly an exhausting way to live.  I’m still balancing the line between being cautious but also not living my life in fear.  But because of that tight-rope I tend to shy away from things more now than I used to. 

The most recent new experience was I went to my first ever comic con.  It was a smaller local convention but it was a comic con just the same and I had not been to one prior to this past weekend.  As soon as I walked in, I was taken aback by how many people were there.  Obviously it was nice to see and I was excited for my boyfriend, as he was there selling art for the first time and more people tends to lead to more sales, but I was almost too overwhelmed to even find his table.  Once I wasn’t lost anymore it was interesting to walk around and see all the different tables and vendors and admire all of the intricate cosplay costumes, but I still could only stay for an hour.

Last summer I took a somewhat impromptu trip to Chicago which was quite the feat for me since I usually have to convince myself for days that a 2 hour round trip visit to a friend isn’t in fact too far and going to destroy my vehicle.  But having taken the trip, I was so very glad that I did it and we all had a great time and got to see new things and experience a new city.  I wanted to try and do another trip like that this winter to North Carolina but it just wasn’t in the cards this year.

So, yeah I am pretty on board with trying new and/or uncomfortable things even just to say that I did it and have the stories to tell afterwards.  But I’m always more keen on doing something new if I’m not going it alone.