I'm socially awkward

i think everyone has a little social anxiety ... i know i often feel a bit uncomfortable talking to certain people especially strangers, but i've also noticed when approaching strangers (especially women) that i can pick up on their being slightly uncomfortable as well. the thing is, it really doesn't matter as much as we might believe, just try not to focus on it, and instead focus on engaging the other person fully and you can actually shift some of the weight of the interaction onto them ... get them to fill in the other side of the interaction for you.

i wouldn't really consider myself what you would call an "outgoing" person and consider myself an introvert, but I can definitely engage someone. you have to really not care what kind of judgements the other person may make about you, it's actually pretty likely that they're feeling a bit uncomfortable themself and i can usually pick up on that. i think most people are too self absorbed to really judge you in a persecutory way just because you feel a little awkward.

you can practice engaging people by calling toll free numbers, tech support, etc ... if you engage them just like any other person its actually pretty amazing the information that you can get from them. people aren't that much different in real life .. they are humans that you are dealing with. also, people aren't all that different online than in real life either, you are in all circumstances dealing with human beings of course. when you are on the "same page" with someone you will know it, and the conversing with go very smoothely, because you are operating on similar frequencies and have similar interests. of course, if you have nothing in common with a person the interaction can get awkward, as you will run out of interesting things to talk about rather quickly.

 

I shut down and say really weird and oddly timed things and ramble when I talk to people, plus I have panic attacks in groups. Its easier for me to be a lone wolf though it does get lonely which seems appropriate for being a party of one. (Hahaha, party of 1)