As I was standing in line for my COVID-19 vaccine, a pair of balls on the shelf caught my eye. The CVS Health Massage Ball kit contains two balls: one textured, one smooth. These balls can be used hot or cold and are meant to help with tissue massage. What made them extra appealing was the fact that the smooth ball was advertised as squeezable for hand strengthening.
My dad offered to buy me the balls, but the frugal side of me turned down his offer. Unfortunately, that was not the end of things. To my dismay, I couldn’t get the balls off my mind; the rest of the week I continued to feel like I was missing out.
With the help of my mom, I hunted around for alternatives inside our house. We found GoldenEarth Pilates balls and Clever Yoga BetterFit hand grips. I also ordered the TriggerPoint MobiPoint Textured Massage Ball off Amazon.
These alternatives had their own usages, but did not live up to my expectations. I wanted something soft and rubbery that could be used like a foam stress ball. None of the balls mentioned above fit that purpose. (However, the TriggerPoint deserves praise for its excellent foot massaging capabilities.)
I became obsessed enough with the CVS balls that I volunteered to pick up my mom’s medications on foot on Friday. The trip was for nothing because the De Anza CVS didn’t have the balls in stock. On Wednesday, I tagged along with my dad to the Hollenbeck CVS to look for more balls. Arriving at the store, I was super pleased to find that they had the item in stock.
Turns out, the CVS massage balls are a good example of overimagining things (aka a bad habit of mine worsened by OCD). The balls were nowhere near as perfect as I pictured in my mind. They were nothing more than a slightly bigger, less comfortable version of the TriggerPoint and I returned them the next chance I got.
Anyway, the lesson learned from this ordeal is that obsessing over little details is unhealthy for my mental state and that it is something I need to stop doing. Since it’s so deeply engrained, it will be difficult, but I believe in myself.
