Comments on: Growing through the Fear of Social Anxiety

By: lynne

lynne — Wed, 02 Apr 2014 01:00:00 +0000

Hi, thanks for sharing your experiences with us, I guess everybody, not only you, have gone through that stage of fear. I myself did, we need to analyze our fear, acknowledge it, and take control over it, otherwise, we get stuck and never move forward. Fear is one factor that hinders growth and success . I’m sure many people can relate to this and with the help of your article, we can all start the process of moving on .

By: Jessica

Jessica — Sun, 30 Mar 2014 19:16:01 +0000

Great post Justin. It is definitely true that everyone needs to cope in their own way. I found it most difficult to interact in large groups and still prefer a smaller group or one-on-one interactions, but the more that you do put yourself out there and the more you get comfortable with being uncomfortable, I found that it does get easier. Thanks for sharing.

By: Jackie

Jackie — Sat, 29 Mar 2014 23:42:59 +0000

Justin~
Great post! I love that you pointed to the moment when the opportunity to overcome your fear presented itself. This resonated, as it asks us to trust that when we are out of balance, or our in need of growth, opportunities for healing will come. These opportunities may not be what we imagine, or necessarily want, but they are important and exactly what we need.

By: Justin

Justin — Thu, 27 Mar 2014 14:42:31 +0000

Hey Melissa,

Thanks for sharing your experience. We all have personal coping mechanisms and you’re right, no reason to conform. It’s far too easy for others to judge someone or think they are “stuck up” just because they may not interact the way they are “supposed” to. I know I’ve done it as well. I hope I’ll do a better job teaching my daughter to be comfortable in her own skin and to not judge others based on what’s perceived. No one knows what someone else is thinking or feeling inside, so why do we continue to assume?

Glad you could relate

Stay Inspired,
Justin

By: Melissa

Melissa — Thu, 27 Mar 2014 14:22:20 +0000

Thanks for sharing this Tess.

I too had a lot of social anxiety and what you had to say really touched me. People misunderstood my anxiety for being ‘stuck up’. It was understandable because I wouldn’t acknowledge people at times when under the pressure of being in larger groups. My coping mechanism was to focus on one thing and go straight to that area. I would get so over stimulated with so much going on and that was the only way I could get through it. To focus… So if my ‘focus’ was a group or even a chair at the back of the room, all the people I would pass would not be ‘seen’ by me.

I too do much better now and feel so much more relaxed in larger groups as well as groups of people I don’t know. I have made peace with the fact that I just LOVE one on one connecting and smaller groups and that it is ok to be that way. No one needs to conform because it’s the popular thing to do. We are all so different and with our differences we have so many great gifts to offer others.

Thanks again!