Every time I see that little red number in my inbox, my first thought is: Did I mess up? My brain jumps to the worst-case scenario—maybe I said something controversial, and now everyone’s correcting me and downvoting my stupid comments. Even though, most of the time, the messages are actually helpful and fun, that number still triggers some sort of insecurity and anxiety. The bigger it gets, the louder my worries grow.
Logically, I know I don’t screw up that often, and most feedback is neutral or even positive. But deep down, my insecure monkey brain panics at the thought of being wrong—or worse, publicly called out. Even when I’m right, the number still makes my stress levels spike up. What if people disagree with me? What if they don’t like what I wrote?
And yes, I see the irony in posting this. Writing about it is basically asking for it and feeding the very anxiety I’m trying to ignore. Maybe it’s my version of exposure therapy.
Yeah, I try to think about the number in a more neutral/positive way, even though my initial emotional reaction could be less helpful. You’re absolutely right that those are also opportunities to learn.
That’s actually one of the best things about Lemmy, and even Reddit to some extent. Let’s say you think you know something about a specific topic (like maps, steam locomotives, pharmacology or whatever), because you read an article about it 5 years ago. You write a short comment based on what you think you know, and then someone with a PhD in underwater basket weaving corrects you, because you didn’t get half the details right. That should be taken as an opportunity, but it doesn’t always feel like that. Even when the comment is helpful and friendly, I still know I screwed up. It’s not a big deal, but my feelings aren’t rational about these things.