We all grow and we get better at most everything we do. In some areas, though, the growth is exponential, and it surprises even ourselves.
Since your teen years, in what area have you improved the most?
Me? I would have to say my driving. My teen years were years of reckless driving through what I saw as a hyperplane with near-stationary obstacles. The results included totalled cars with alarming frequency. Luckily, this all happened in a lawless land, and I never lost my driving license to the law.
Today, I am capable of crazy stunts such as signaling, observing lanes, respecting traffic laws and keeping the car in one piece year after year. (And this happened before the kids came, now I am even worse).
I am honestly proud of myself for this crazy development of my llife.
My emotional growth has been the greatest, because I guess that’s where I had the most catching up to do. I went from a stubborn, ‘‘I’m not going to do it because I don’t feel like it and my life is hard’’ sort of attitude to actually actively looking forward to pushing myself into new responsibilities and areas of self-discipline.
I am really proud of you for being a good driver now, too. There are enough crazies on the road as it is. And you deserve kisses on your feet for using your turn signal.
Patience. I can sit for ages, waiting patiently, sometimes just doing nothing but wait. I get folks come up and say sorry for the wait, but I say it’s all cool – I rarely have a chance to stop in my tracks and do nothing for a change. And it is usually well worthwhile to simply – wait.
Regulating my mood, in various ways. I used to have bad issues with anxiety and depression,and I’ve fine with that for at least the past year and a half. Also my self-image. I used to kinda hate myself up until mid high-school. Now I think I’m the shit, except for occassional periods where I feel ugly and unloved, but methinks that’s normal.
I would say people skills in general. I was tragically undersocialized as a kid, kept myself in self-imposed isolation for the better part of my life, but in the few years since I got out in the real world and opened myself up to new experiences, I gotta say, my people skills and emotional maturity have grown in leaps and bounds. And I’m a much happier person, to boot.
My temper, I guess. I used to be quick to anger and quick to display and express my anger. Now, I take life a bit less seriously, I pick my fights, and generally make sure life has a lot more rounded edges than it used to.
Also, my social skills. These days, I can actually speak to strangers I meet at parties.
Er. That is probably where I have lost to the most. I used to be able to just sit there for hours. Now I expect people to be on time down to the minute every single time.
I think that I’m a lot less shy than I used to be. I was painfully shy; I hated talking on the phone, trying to arrange my own appointments, giving presentations, etc. etc…Now after the classes I took in high school and college, I’ve done so many presentations that, while I do get a little nervous still, I don’t get that crushing feeling of failure after I make a small mistake.
After mom turned into a slug, I became the main cleaner and cooker of the house. I would say that those skills have improved a lot since my early teenage years. There are also minor ones like appearance, art skills, languages, etc…eh, but they don’t feel as significant as the first two.
I’ve become much less judgmental and one-sided (a lot due to this board). I mean, I still believe what I believe to be true, but other people not believing it or having the opposite view doesn’t bother me as much.
I’ve become a better quilter over the years. My stitches are smaller and the overall product is better.
Somewhere along the line, I’ve managed to acquire an amazing amount of self-discipline – at least in certain areas, whereas I used to have it in none. I went from someone who was incapable of making myself do something unless I really, really wanted to to someone who has the self-discipline to be completely self-employed and work at home with nobody to impose any kind of schedule on me.
During one of the brief stints where I actually worked in an office about six years ago, my boss delivered a great compliment: “You’re much better at making yourself do things you don’t want to do than I am.” It meant a lot to me because it was a real hallmark of how far I’ve come.
As an early teenager, I used to be a big-time loser. I would lose glasses, watches, wallets, books…just about everything. I was just really absentminded and forgetful. It was just another effect of moderate-to-severe (severe enough that I “graduated” from Ritalin to Dexedrine) ADHD. Because of this, I developed really strong habits for keeping and organizing my things - I got so sick of misplacing my belongings. Eventually, as I outgrew ADHD in my early twenties, I realized I had become one of those people who never loses anything. It makes me happy.
I’ve changed so much in the last sixish years, it’s ridiculous. I used to have no self-control or patience; I was depressed all the time and took even the slightest bit of criticism as a personal insult. I would get strangely emotional for no reason, just crying at random intervals; I would also hold all my emotions in and never speak to anyone unless necessary. I also used to be extremely closed-minded, arrogant, and condescending. I’m a completely different person now. I can look at something bad happening in my life and just laugh; I can communicate with other people like never before. I’m much more open-minded and open to criticism. I’ve learned to be self-effacing and non-judgemental. I can deal with my emotions in a more constructive way. Hell, I’m even working out now. Yup, life is good.
My organizing skills have improved dramatically! I also keep a much cleaner house than I used to, just because I’ve realized that a clean house makes me happy. I’ve learned to not kill plants almost immediately. (It takes a little longer now! ;)) I’ve become a much better cook - I try new recipes and tweak away at old standards. It’s fun!
I’m not sure if the changes are because I’m happy, or I’m happy because of the changes. I feel better about myself than I have in years. A lot of it has to do with finally finding a man who accepts me fully the way I am, which helps me to accept me the way I am. Does that make sense?
Shyness is something I’ve overcome quite successfully over the past 20 years. It used to be I could hardly stand to be at a party because I felt so damn awkward. Now I thoroughly enjoy them and have a great time. I attribute this to my close magician friends whom talked about before on this board. They accepted me into their group just as I was and made me feel like I didn’t have to change myself in order to fit in. It was because of them that I learned how to be more social, and was able to bring that skill with me to other facets of my life.
So to all you ISORZ out there, I thank you! You guys are the greatest.
Jeez, I used to totally SUCK at managing money. Something finally just clicked. My credit score is skyrocketing and I even started investing for retirement. I actually enjoy balancing my checkbook and surveying my Quicken software. It’s kind of creepy. But good.
