It’s been a little over a month since my ACL surgery. When people I’ve not seen for a while ask me how I’m doing, I say “I’m healing” which prompts them to ask what happened, which then gives me the opportunity to tell them I hurt it playing racquetball. My brain: Are you impressed? I don’t want you to think that I tore my ACL doing something geezerly like stepping off a curb.
“It’s going to be a boring winter. No snowboarding.” My brain: Are you impressed that a guy as old as me snowboards?
And of course, once I have this ego orgasm, I’m soon trolling for another one with whoever’s the next person I’ve not seen for a while.
The downside? I don’t really listen to them, notice them, appreciate them, take interest in them. I’m too focused on getting my mistaken idea confirmed with an ego-orgasm… that I’m somehow not tough enough, not man enough, that I’m seen as a wimp. I know the history of this mistaken idea, but still, its power to affect my daily actions amazes me.