The things I avoid the most are the things I have to do and that’s just the biggest gut punch to me.
I got my job and financial security for the most part and then I just told society to piss off. I was like “well I’m alive, eating, and not homeless therefore I’ve fulfilled my needs and now I only have to do the things I want to do”. So yeah here we are again, the SAME pattern from my teenage years that convinced me I didn’t need contact with people manifesting itself under a different disguise as an adult.
It’s always been fear of people. That’s always been the theme of my life. I finished a therapy session today and I realize now that fear is a projection of my own internal issues onto others. It’s not about them, it’s about me and how I perceive myself and how I show up in the world.
It’s easier to say it’s anxiety. It’s easier to think it’s deeper than it is. It’s easier to tell myself I’m really stuck and don’t know how to move forward. It’s all easier than owning up to the fact that I have such a deep fear of rejection and 90% of the time I can’t show up as myself in my life without either overanalyzing every word or action that comes out of my mouth or feeling an intense sense of guilt or shame. Or the fact that I actively avoid any situations that could have the potential for me appearing a certain unfavorable way.
The real kicker is the fact that admitting this stuff to myself is suppressed because who wants to acknowledge the fact that no you aren’t secure in yourself, no you haven’t been moving past your boundaries enough, no you never really overcame the crippling issues that messed up your life to begin with, no you still feel like you’re somehow inferior and a burden to others. You put up a good mask for a while but it’s never been genuine and it shows with the amount mental energy expended on a daily basis trying to uphold that delusion. And the only reason that mask is upheld is myself feeling deep shame over the fact that I have these embarrassing shortcomings. Being unable to acknowledge that these aren’t some deep flaws in my character that make me a stain on society. Logically I know it isn’t true, but I just feel that way.
That being said I need to learn to be myself in this world, show up authentically and expose that self. Not the sort of avatar I project over the top of myself for navigating the world. There’s a lot more inner work to be done, but that only goes so far. I need to do just enough to give myself more courage to start showing up in the world more. At least now I know where the REAL resistance to change came from and can work it from that angle. I will acknowledge the fact that my lack of real world experiences hurts me because it sets me up to go overboard in my head with the negatives I tell myself.
Sometimes it really is just a small blemish under a microscope. And it’s just unfortunate that it’s gone on for so long like that because I’ve deprived myself of the positive experiences that would counterbalance that. There’s a lot of regret that comes along with that on top of everything else. But it’s definitely a difficult thing seeing the level of dysfunction, understanding how it effects me, yet being whipped around.
Got a lot to process on this one