Thought of the Day 02.24.10

Our company has a wellness policy which allows us to earn points toward gift cards based on a variety of behaviors like eating, sleeping, and getting exercise. Since apparently $10 a month is plenty of incentive for me to change my lifestyle, I recently decided to start taking the stairs (when I can) instead of the elevator because that’s one of the point opportunities.

Well, the first time I did this, after my show about 8:00 at night, I was very uncomfortable. See, it’s all grey and ugly and a little bit creepy in the stairwell, especially below ground level where it isn’t even painted, and I found myself reliving every scary scene in a movie involving a stairwell and a psychopath. Nevertheless, I kept on, scurrying just a little bit faster out the door to my car.

Over the course of several weeks, I became progressively less bothered by the scary stairwell. And, in fact, just the other day I was pleasantly surprised to notice that I didn’t even notice it anymore. Because I had used it so many times, I had become so comfortable that my irrational fears just vanished without me even noticing. And I had to laugh at how I’d felt before.

Do you think any of this would also apply to encountering unfamiliar people?