Huge Achievement

What did you do that was a huge achievement for you but very insignificant to the people around you?
[answered by Jordan Yates via Quora.com]

This morning, I woke up to a text from my bank.

“Unusual account activity— call this number”.

I called and the automated machine said it would read back my last five transactions to check for anything weird.

“Video entertainment— $65. California.”

“Video entertainment— $10. Declined. France.”

“Video entertainment— $10. Declined. France.”

“Gas— $30. Colorado.”

“Gas— $30. Wyoming.”

I was pretty sure I hadn’t been to France or California recently, so I checked my account summary and noticed I had -$50 in my account.

I’m taking poor college kid to a whole new level. I’m negative poor right now.

So I called their fraud number and the woman on the other end walked me through securing my account and getting a new card. She asked a few questions, told me my card was on its way, and hung up.

The achievement was not that I got my card number stolen. It wasn’t that I managed to put my account $50 under.

It’s that I made a phone call.

That sounds awfully small and to everyone around me it is, but I have been known to have panic attacks when forced to make phone calls. I hate ‘em. They make me anxious and uncomfortable and incredibly stressed.

I struggle with hearing on the phone (and in general, really), which exacerbates my social anxiety and makes phone calls some of the worst interactions I can have.

But today, I did it. The woman even had an accent and I think I understood her and responded correctly.

It’s a small thing, but when it’s one of your biggest fears, it can feel like the greatest thing in the world.