Bondage of self sucks. It’s like living in a pressure cooker. A self-centered life is a fearful life. And what sucks worse is being self-centered and not knowing it. Sure, we see the consequences, relationships ending, avoiding people we genuinely care about, our contact lists shrinking. We worry about what people are thinking about us, wondering if we’re really welcome in certain spots anymore.
Many of us avoid places so we don’t run into people we have a problem with. We skip events we’re invited to, making excuses, rarely telling the truth about why we’re not going.
Sometimes, clinging to a self-diagnosis of social anxiety, aren't we really just telling ourselves stories to ourselves, about ourselves. Stories that are usually built around some kind of resentment with another person? We replay the story over and over, each time getting a little worse, until we, unfortunately, might finally act on it. A lot of the time we end up alone. Taking Step 3, having a new footing in life, are we ready to face facts about these old ways?
Who are you avoiding right now, and what story are you telling yourself?
