Self-Destruct-shun

I am not even average when it comes to dealing with my weaknesses.  I fall well below that line.  I am slowly coming to terms with that which I think will help me get more along the average mark.  One weakness that I feel eats away at me internally and subconsciously is the one I saw my dad have the hardest time with when he looked at me.  It can be called by multiple names.  He had a name for it and I tend to articulate it in a similar fashion.
One frustrating factor to this weakness is the fact that I married someone who has the same weakness - a double-whammy.  When I presented Sarah to my parents officially with our intentions to marry, my dad sat us down and spewed off a list of things that worried him about us.  This is when he articulated this weakness to me.  I resented it at the time.  Over the past 13 years though, I have come to realize his anxiety was legitimate. I don't remember ever talking to him or my mom about it before then or since then.  I also have come to find out it is tied very closely to my social inhibitions.  I hate trying to listen to someone telling me something, especially when it is critical I hear and understand what they are saying, i.e., instructions or directions.  I easily mishear, misunderstand or both.  When it comes to written instructions I fare only average, depending on my level of knowledge on the subject.
What else is frustrating about this weakness is the fact it only rears its ugly head on rare occasions.  Because of this, I don't get a lot of practice in subduing it or learning from the mistakes it brings me.  Often too, this weakness tends to open the door to bigger than average mistakes.  I also keep this known weakness in the back of my head when interacting with others, even on the most trivial of circumstances.  Second-guessing happens to many if not most, but sometimes it can get out of hand.