Overcoming Social Anxiety and Developing Self-Love

[AndrewP]

In this western world we live in there comes a lot of social pressures. What you should wear, how you should act, what job you should have, what you should study, where you should be life, and even views that you should have. All of these SHOULDS have a massive impact on us, so much so that they can take us away from who we really are in essence and create a whole lot of anxiety along the way. Have the courage to take yourself away from the SHOULDS and do what you WANT to do, be who you WANT to be, in fact more to the point be WHO YOU ARE.

We have fears which drive our beliefs and affect our behaviours. There are 3 UNIVERSAL FEARS.

FEAR OF NOT BEING GOOD ENOUGH/BEING FOUND OUT

FEAR OF NOT BELONGING

FEAR OF NOT BEING LOVED 

The fear that comes with being WHO YOU ARE goes something like; "If I were to simply be myself, would I beloved, would I belong, would I be accepted?

I can tell you that the answer is YES! When we meet someone who is living authentically and being true to themselves we find that we are drawn to these people because they give off such an energy of certainty if self and confidence. They don't turn it up for anyone or turn it down for anyone, they simply be who they are and are loved for that. One of the main reasons why we are drawn to such people is because it takes courage to put yourself out there and be who you are. I can tell you that once you experience embracing the vulnerability of being who you are you will have significant changes in your life.

Some steps to take in moving forward.

Ask yourself some great questions like:

Who is it that I THINK I NEED to be in this world to be loved, belong and accepted?

When I get anxious what is it that I'm actually worried about? (Get specific)

Who do I want to be in this world? Who am I?

What qualities do I love about others? (you will find you posses some of these qualities yourself)

When asking these questions it is important to be 100% honest with yourself, even if you don't like the answer. Don't answer how you'd like it to sound, how you think it should sound, or how you want it to be.. answer it HOW IT IS!

Develop Self-Love - look at all the positive qualities about yourself and really love them. Show yourself some compassion and give yourself a break. We are all perfectly imperfect in this world.

Develop Self-Trust - Trust who you are and know that you will live true to yourself

I have so much more so share guys so please ask questions

[PurpleShade]

I can relate to Gretel's post 🙂 and many others in this thread

I have been on this roundabout for years and being hurt from those close to me is where I'm the most vulnerable and it is what's affected my ability to keep moving forward.

The fine balance between being open,positive, honouring one-self and being protected from toxic people/environments.  A constant juggling act.  

[JessF]

Hello Purple Shade, I know what you mean. Do you think you have gotten better as a judge of character as you've gotten older, with respect to spotting the toxic people before they become too much a part of your life? I have a much lower tolerance for these people now, and I find my life less stressful as a result.

[peaceloving]

Hi

I can relate to this post sooo much... I am only know learning to distance or remove those that are very negative from my life. I was always told by my brother growing up I was never good enough, i'd never be successful cause i'm a day dreamer then when I became a single mum it was that I would never meet anyone who would love me and i'd never finish my studies cause I wasn't smart enough. From growing up with these negative beliefs pushed onto me I started to attract men who treated me the same way until a few months ago when after 10 years anxiety free it came back with a force and has made me look deep within myself... I no longer talk to my brother and have made the decision to remain single for a while so I can focus on my self love, kids and getting my feet back on the ground..... I find each day I am able to remove more and more negative people and can stop them straight off now.