I've always had very low confidence levels and a little while ago I decided to stop living as a victim of my fear, so I made a firm affirmation to get to the point where I could easily talk to people.
I'm 26 years old, and until recently, I've always found social situations incredibly stressful and fear inducing. Whether that was in a group or one on one. Because of that, i spent a lot of time inside playing computer games. Even when i had to work with other people, I was painfully shy and would never engage in meaningful conversations or reveal any part of my inner self.
About 6 months ago, I made the bold step of following the guide on here about making eye contact with random people walking past, and I've been escalating it ever since. Since then, I've started conversations on benches, trains, at bus stops and just walking down the street. I've had some rejections, but i've learnt to laugh them off and value the good times I've had. Throughout this process, I have come to realise that I am in fact a valuable, and worthwhile individual with many good qualities and attributes.
I just want to share the experience I had tonight, because it feels like a real breakthrough moment for me and I'm just so happy I finally reached this point.
So I've been using OKCupid to find girls to go on dates with, and I've sent a few messages back and forth between someone recently, and we ended up arranging a date for tonight. From being in a place where even standing next to someone at the bus stop was uncomfortable, I felt no nervousness before the date, and I had no fear of calling her up to arrange where we were gonna go. As I was walking to the place, there was no fear in my heart, just excitement and the feeling of limitless potential. Throughout the date, I felt completely at easy with myself and the surroundings, and I was able to enjoy being in the moment. Conversation flowed smoothly, and I even managed to escalate things slightly by touching her on the arm a few times and engineering excuses to hug her repeatedly
(this may not sound like much, but for me, it's massive).
While I bought her the first drink, she ended up returning the favour and buying me a drink. To top it all off, we ended up salsa dancing (we went to a bar that had a salsa dancing lesson happening). I am a God awful dancer and usually can't even get up the courage to dance in a nightclub after a few pints! All I had to drink for the date was a glass of lemonade and lime and a coke...
I am so proud of myself and I still can't quite believe what happened. All I can feel is happiness because I know this is just the beginning and things can only improve from here on in. While I still feel regretful sometimes that I didn't manage get to this place sooner in life, I'm overjoyed that I managed to do it eventually.
If anyone else has experienced 'breakthrough' moments recently, I would love to hear you're stories.