A relative who has a severe peanut allergy has begun a months-long desensitization process to mitigate some of the effects of exposure. He’ll never be found munching on a bag of Peanut M&M’s but at the end of the program, a whiff of the peanut dust shouldn’t be life-threatening like it is now. He’ll get there through medicine and absorbing the teeny, tiniest amounts of peanut elements every day to build tolerance.
While obviously not the same as a medical necessity, the same principle of gradual acclimation is one everyone can practice to learn resilience in areas that we find vexing or uncomfortable — sort of a sensitization approach. I’m trying this with ChatGPT and AI — a LinkedIn course here, an article there, playing around another day — trying to slowly, gradually digest a very small amount of the confusing material every day until the concept no longer terrifies me. I’ll never be all in, but I don’t want to be all out either.
Is there a routine where you push yourself to take one step each day until you no longer dread it? What about spending a few minutes every morning playing around with your own nemesis — a knitting needle, Duolingo, investment strategies — that you may never master but no longer fear?
Often people act as if there are only extremes but taking a peanut desensitization approach may warrant consideration. The goal may never be to eat the jar of peanut butter, but rather not to run away when someone next to you does.
