In my teens I had a lot of social anxiety and really wanted to overcome it. Learned about the existence of exposure therapy and figured I could try it. So I took the bus to West Hollywood and walked around the Chinese theater. Everyone who made eye contact I said “Hi, my name is —— and I like dinosaurs. Will you be my friend?”
People are used to crazy around there so rejection just didn’t hurt much. The few people who said yes though actually became really good friends.
Helped immensely. Did it three times over the course of a semester. I wouldn’t say the anxiety has completely gone away, but I’m comfortable being uncomfortable now. It’s not difficult for me to be my genuine self around strangers, and I don’t mind when some people find it off-putting. It’s been 25 years since I did that and I still remember those “sessions” vividly.
That's how it starts my friend. I used to be super awkward and shy around others because of my anxiety. Eventually I just said "fuck it" and whenever I felt uncomfortable I just tried to power throughou it. Today I'm an extrovert in pretty much every way, got several groups of friends I regularly hang out with and no problems with being new people
To be clear, this is not for everybody, not everyone wants or even needs too many friends, but it is good for me. I've always been an extrovert at heart, I just lacked the social skills
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u/pauvcloche 1d ago
This guy meets awesome people ❤️