As much as I love crypto, I've learned that I don't have the temperament for investing. I'm too timid when it
comes to finances. I'm fine with smaller investments...$20 here, $50 there...but the thought of buying an
entire bitcoin (or even half of one) scares the bejeezus out of me

I agree, I also dont like to take the risk and a invest a lot of money into bitcoin, some people tend to dump all their saving and thousands and millions of dollars into bitcoin without knowing the fact that its future is still yet unsure, they may have got some serious profit but still it is so risky.
I'm sure that this behavior is not from shyness, but from the fact that you do not have so much money that you are ready to lose. I am also very much afraid to lose my savings, because it is very difficult to earn them. Therefore, I try to think carefully before investing
Most of us are scared of losing our hard earned savings by making wrong investments but as it has mentioned above it's better to start with minimal investment and make profit out of it and keep following the cycle until you can buy an entire bitcoin then make more progress like trading or gambling (i won't suggest gambling from my personal point of view) start with little and make it bigger so that you do not end up losing your hard earned money.
Gambling is a best way to loose money so if you want to experience the disappointment of loosing then you can go for it or simply stay away from it and comparatively trading is much better way to multiply your bitcoins and earn some descent profits which may not be possible with gambling for sure.
That's not always the case. Gambling is a poor idea if you're trying to earn profits because the odds will always be on the house's side (they have to make a profit, right?) but it's not the best way to lose money. The best way to lose money is to keep it in fiat currency (just kidding). Seriously, trading is not perfect and you can't expect returns all the time. Many traders
have to lose out for other people's profits, and it's the amateurs who try too early who suffer from this.