Anonymous #1 16w

yeah. i’m trying. it’s hard emotionally investing in my friends so much knowing someone else will always be first, eventually. like i’m never going to get back as much i put in

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Anonymous #2 16w

after having some falling outs with very close friends too, it’s so much harder for me to open up completely to new people and let myself be vulnerable and myself because i am so afraid of judgement and being abandoned

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Anonymous OP 16w

that's how it should be. not necessarily someone else, but yourself. you're your biggest advocate in life. the only person who's with you for the entirety of your life, is you. speaking from experience, start small, even just disclosing how hard it is to be vulnerable to loved ones cracks open a door. there wasn't really much else besides just forcing myself to open up, even a little bit. eventually i just realised that maybe the circumstances are different but almost all my friends have felt

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Anonymous #1 16w

similar things to me at one point or another. and the more i grew to like myself, and start accepting reality over perception, the more i noticed the self-deprecating thoughts got less and less frequent, yk? i always worried if people would like me enough, if i would find people who appreciated me, and it was exhausting. i was exhausting. it makes sense to think those things and want to belong, but setting/holding boundaries with MYSELF included not wallowing in it and actively putting a stop to

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Anonymous #1 16w

thoughts and behaviors whenever i became aware of it. the first time i was actually vulnerable with my friends i just said told them how much i struggled with it and they related with me. it wasn't a perfect 180, but it was still drastic in realizing that i was safe to share and my past experiences don't mirror my present. if i'm vulnerable with someone now and they react negatively, that's just information on how i want to move forward with them.

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