I guess I will talk about two things I've sort of "conquered": talking on the phone and anything to do with eyes.
I used to have a lot of phone anxiety. I didn't like the phone for anything, even talking to friends and people I knew well. Just the idea of phoning anyone would get me really worked up and I'd need a lot of time to unwind afterwards because it would rile me up so much. Fast forward to when I got my first job... I was hired on as a hostess at a restaurant and within a few hours on my first day, my manager switched me to phone operator. I was so, sooo nervous at first but having to pretty much dive right in made me get over it pretty quickly. I still don't necessarily like making phone calls nowadays but I know the person on the other end, if I'm calling a business, is no different than I was when I had that job. And if I'm just calling someone I know? Well, most of the people I know aren't really a fan of phones either so that's not a big deal either. I'm glad I had the job because life is so much easier now that phoning people is a non-issue.
The second thing is eyes. For many years I've had issues with eyes. I could look at them, of course, but the moment anyone talked about having problems with their eyes, or talked about contact lenses, or sometimes even the idea of needing glasses, I'd feel sick to my stomach. I remember in grade 11 Physics, I would often have to leave the room entirely during our optics unit because we mentioned eyes so much. Going to the eye doctor would leave me feeling physically ill for days because of the eye drops and especially all the posters and pamphlets about eye diseases or issues. Then quite a few years ago I started developing a... I don't even know. A cyst or a wart or something? It was right underneath my right (I think?) eyelid. It didn't hurt and it didn't get in the way but sometimes if I rubbed or scratched near it, as you just often do during the day, it would feel very irritated. I also didn't like the way it looked, especially because every time I'd look at myself in the mirror, I would see it and be reminded that there was a minor problem with my eye, and then I'd think about my eye, and then I'd feel sick for a while. Eventually I asked about it during a visit to the optometrist and they said I could get rid of it. I agreed, even though it was really mostly cosmetic, so we did it.
I reeaaally wish I could forget that day, even if it did kind of help with my fear much the same way that the phone thing did. I won't go into detail about the procedure but I remember it involved a needle that was uncomfortably close to my eye. (I probably would go into detail but I honestly do not remember what happened. I asked to be put under for it or something and they refused since it was so minor but I really think I blacked it out in my memory because I remember up until I sat down in the chair and saw the needle... uhh... approaching... and I remember being in the car afterwards and nothing in-between.) I had to wear an eyepatch for a week and every day for a month I had to put on this disinfectant cream, I think? So multiple times a day, I had this massive reminder that there was an issue with my eye (or around it, anyway) and I spent the whole month feeling physically ill. It was horrible. But since then? I've been a little better with the whole concept of eyes. I still can't watch people putting contacts in and I can't deal with eye gore in TV or movies at ALL but I don't feel sick for as long when I go to the optometrists, I can sit still during conversations about laser eye surgery without having to leave the room, and I actually wear glasses now and can deal with the fact that my eyesight isn't perfect anymore without feeling completely uneasy about it. I've improved so much and I'm kind of stupidly proud of it.
