Old topic but yeah, I suck when it comes to having a physical conversation lol. Gotta work on that. Forum wise I'm fine.

My social awkwardness really causes me to have a hard time. Things that are a breeze for some people (i.e. job interviews, talking to authority figures, meeting someone new, etc.) are very difficult for me.

My inability to speak up about or be more assertive about legitimate issues has caused me to feel anxious and depressed. A lot of my awkwardness comes from social anxiety. My coworkers even comment that I seem too quiet and have no sense of humor. I cut up and have fun with my friends, but I work hard to not draw any unwanted attention to myself at work. As far as personality goes, I’m complicated... I’m an ISTJ at work and an ISFJ with my friends and family and other times outside work.

I will say that my social awkwardness and social anxiety has gotten a bit better as I’ve gotten older and found out more about who I am. Some situations still give me a hard time, but they’re not worth worrying about too much.

I'm the shyest person that any of you will ever meet.
Because my hearing is not very good I try to avoid as many social situations as possible.
I love working as an electrician but there is so much anxiety from it as the guys in this field are rough!
I have medicine for the anxiety I just don't like to take it as it makes me feel weak and ashamed as a man.
Besides my lighting interest here's hoping I've made some friends on LG.

@Wireman, yeah you definitely have made some friends up on LG. Keep your head up man! In terms of being
the shyest, eehhh... I get pretty shy. Like... real, real shy. I absolutely HATE it. And literally every bit
of the first portion of CEB1993's previous message describes me almost all too well. ESPECIALLY when talking to
authority figures. That's a part that makes me dangerously depressed. If things go bad, I end up replaying the scenario over,
and over, and over again in my mind.
Motorcycle meet ups... despite owning an awesome eye catching machine, I haven't gone to any motorcycle meet ups because of my anxiety, fear
of failure, and also embarrassment.
And those three things have also prevented me from having the courage to talk to women as well.

@suzukir122, thanks for the kind words,it certainly helps!
What you said about when things go bad with an authority figure and replaying it over in your mind... I do the same WAY to much.
Why do we torture ourselves like that? We're just honest people trying to earn an honest living.
As far as your motorcycle it's your passion and you worked hard for it get out there and enjoy it! Enjoy every minute of it while you can!

Well I have to admit, my past was different compared to today. Back then, I had a good amount of friends, and had a blast. But as soon as they left (moved to different schools), things started to change. I noticed the world was changing, and quite a lot, with the big wide world of social media and decided I did not want to join that. People that I knew started going away and it was fine, but it hurt socially. I have only a small group of friends (outside of LG) that genuinely accept me for who I am, but even then, I rarely talk to them.

I can talk to someone, but it takes lots of courage, and I always pray that I won't mess up. And if I do, I either laugh it off or it sometimes plays in my head.

@Wireman, after I get a much needed oil change on it, my motorcycle will be out  of the garage once again. Until then, it's
back to plain boring normal basic common typical average regular life for me.
Replaying bad moments over and over again happens to me uncontrollably. Bad break up from 2010, power tripping
job interviewer, yelling and screaming pointless arguments... all that stuff replays in my mind no matter how bad I try to
prevent it. Especially the bad break up.
@Fluorescent lover 40, it's situations like that, that make me think a little bit more about going to college... in hopes to develop
more of a social life... but... that hope is subsiding due to Covid-19 of course.

@suzukir122, I certainly understand  how difficult it is about replaying the bad things, it's absolutely brutal and just eats away at you.
The best way I've found to deal with it is find that one thing that  truly drives you everyday and completely focus on that.
You stick to that and all that other stuff means nothing anymore.
@Fluorescent lover 40, The group of friends you have, that you say truly accept you for you, STAY IN TOUCH WITH THEM!
Friends like that are to hard to come by.
Never burn your bridges.
You never know when you'll have to cross them again.

@suzukir122: Yeah I plan to be a little bit more social, because in my current state, keeping to myself would make me self-destruct.

@Wireman: Yes, I know that's not good. I'm trying to arrange a visit to one of my friends' houses so we can hang out (safely of course).

@Fluorescent lover 40, The group of friends you have, that you say truly accept you for you, STAY IN TOUCH WITH THEM!
Friends like that are to hard to come by.

So give us a call, we're here 

That goes for anyone else who ever feels like a chat 

After reading this thread, I'm gonna throw some of my experince in. Im sort of good at social stuff but not its weird. I will make some friends but because if someone asks what hobbies i have and saying "Im a lighting enthusiast/bulb collector" is really weird to the average person. Im also not the sort of person to go with most mainstream culture As the middle school Mainstreams is this weird flexculture and huge socialmedia popularity thing that i would not touch at all and i hate posting whatever snapgramtok statuses and other social things. I try to limit my internet footprint and only have a youtube, lg, discord, and reddit account along with some ones that a rarely use. The whole flex culture thign is bad too as i dont like flexign whatever i have and everone competing for the new iphone 14xsrp+ the fastest to show it off while im fine using a small fliphone minding my own business. As such alot of kids make fun off me for havign a fliphoen and will trash me on how i look even though my clothign is mostly based of of confort and not looks and wil even make fun of my appearance as i'm not the best looking dude. ( i have a scar on the front center of my hair that when my hair is cut cut resembles a certian shoe brand logo) The Constant bullying in 8th grade by people who dont like me and using other that hting there the best ever whas absolute hell. There was one time where this group of girls in my class went ahead and recorded me in class without my permission. Im not on that platform they used so i never knew if it was uploaded. Another time I accidentally got suckerpuched in the gut while leavign class (the hallyways in that school where way overcrowded.) and fell over and started to cry from the pain. Some people had the audacity of walkign over me and laughting. I so wanted to go punch everyoen in the nose who repetealy bullied me but never did. Sorry if im rambling but that why i hated school so much combined with how bad the teaching was at some times made me HATE going to school. I did make a few freinds that where nice to me and where also slight social outcasts. Im am so glad im 1200 miles and 5 months away from that place. Im goign to try to be a bit more confident thsi year and sort of rephrase how i say what i do im my spare time.

I  think I already mentioned it somewhere back in this thread that I'm also kinda shy & socially awkward.

When it comes down to it for friendsship/etc, about the only thing I'm good at is driving people away/scaring them off even if I try to be friendly.
(I'm all but unfriendable (which by default also makes me unloveable)).

Never had a girlfriend or anything, but I'm ok with that. I'm fine with being foreversingle (and truly better off that way as well)

@Bulbman256, Pressure about fitting in on social media that's something I didn't know about in school but I certainly know how tough middle school can be.
Don't put yourself down.
I remember that picture you posted of you rewiring the dryer.
I can't think of any kid your age that can do that.
You're already one step ahead of the other kids in your school.
Use that for strength when the pressure is on.
Xmaslightguy, Not sure why you're so down on yourself but we can always talk.
I've been known to overdo a few Xmas light displays over the years and I'm always looking for advice on how to keep overdoing it.

One other major thing that prevents me from fitting in on social media sites, like facebook... is news stories. News stories shared from
friend to friend or as statuses. I can't put it into words how much it annoyed me, and how sick of it I got before I took down my facebook.
Another thing... I tend to scare people away as well but for other reasons. I'm physically strong since I do weightlift. "Buff." I don't
know who created that term "buff," but I'll use it anyway. I stay in shape as best as I can, and it sometimes seems like people
don't want to talk for fear that they'll make me angry. Hopefully I'm wrong, but regardless, it's hurtful. Plus, I absolutely HATE fighting. Period.
Whether it be verbal, or physical. So of course, I don't condone bullying in any way, shape or form... and I'll stand for any type of anti-bullying.

I'm definitely what you would consider an extrovert, and I'm absolutely not socially awkward, but I certainly do have a hard time with the fact that I don't really know anyone in real life my age who has any of the same interests as me (and I have a few outside of lighting, only one or two of which I would consider "normal" and even then I don't know anyone into them.) The few people I do know are very close friends though (except for one guy who is just a flat out (...)). I guess you could say I have a lot of "friends" at my school, but I don't have anything in common with them. I think one of the few reasons people like having me around is because I tend to have a rather good sense of humor and I'm probably the "laid back guy who doesn't judge and you can trust with anything". (which is what I definitely try to be). That isn't so bad but I really wish I just fit in more. I hate being an extrovert sometimes and I envy people who can just enjoy being alone and doing things by themselves. I mean, I have lots of other talents and I have certainly accomplished quite a bit for my age (I have a job that pays well and I absolutely love) but I just wish I could have normal interests. I don't really even find most video games enjoyable which is pretty much unheard of.

ANd dont even get me started on what this hell hole known as 2020 has been. being stuck at home for so long along with the events of the past few months have absolutely destroyed my mental health to the point I don't trust anyone or anything anymore and I'm just getting this growing feeling of hopelessness that things will never improve and I'm never going to get anywhere. It's horrible and I just want things to go back to normal. I failed basically all my classes at the end of last school year because of this. I'm still not at the point I thought I would be at by now.


That felt good to get out. i've never told anyone this outside of here.