#41 ·
I suppose there are always more layers to it than just one thing...
Being an introvert doesn't necessarily mean you're terrified of people, I guess. For some, it’s about finding strength and recharging through solitude, while for others, it might stem from a fear of being humiliated or judged, which is often something learned during childhood.
Social skills really do matter, mostly because most of us tend to operate on autopilot, just repeating the same old patterns we've seen in movies or grown up with. A lot of people assume that the way they naturally react is the only "normal" way, but it can be quite a shock when they realize there's another way to behave 🙂 and that it might actually feel much better.
I think throwing yourself into the deep end is a good idea, since part of social anxiety is just that natural human fear of the unknown. Once you start gathering some real-world experience, you begin to build expectations for the future, and once you know you can handle those situations, you eventually gain a certain level of confidence.
That said, if that insecurity and fear don't go away even after trying, then it's almost certainly tied to some difficult experiences from your early years. As kids, we don't really have the perspective to understand why people act strangely, so we tend to believe there's a reason for it, which makes it easy to walk away with a negative view of ourselves. The real issue is that these become unconscious, deeply repressed beliefs, and it takes some serious work to unpack them. If we could just fix these things through logic or sheer willpower, I suppose we'd all be living in some kind of utopia by now.
So, my advice is to just move forward with your plan, but if the struggle continues, it would probably be a good idea to find a professional to work through it with.
Being an introvert doesn't necessarily mean you're terrified of people, I guess. For some, it’s about finding strength and recharging through solitude, while for others, it might stem from a fear of being humiliated or judged, which is often something learned during childhood.
Social skills really do matter, mostly because most of us tend to operate on autopilot, just repeating the same old patterns we've seen in movies or grown up with. A lot of people assume that the way they naturally react is the only "normal" way, but it can be quite a shock when they realize there's another way to behave 🙂 and that it might actually feel much better.
I think throwing yourself into the deep end is a good idea, since part of social anxiety is just that natural human fear of the unknown. Once you start gathering some real-world experience, you begin to build expectations for the future, and once you know you can handle those situations, you eventually gain a certain level of confidence.
That said, if that insecurity and fear don't go away even after trying, then it's almost certainly tied to some difficult experiences from your early years. As kids, we don't really have the perspective to understand why people act strangely, so we tend to believe there's a reason for it, which makes it easy to walk away with a negative view of ourselves. The real issue is that these become unconscious, deeply repressed beliefs, and it takes some serious work to unpack them. If we could just fix these things through logic or sheer willpower, I suppose we'd all be living in some kind of utopia by now.
So, my advice is to just move forward with your plan, but if the struggle continues, it would probably be a good idea to find a professional to work through it with.