It's just part of a maturing process. Some people get it sooner than others.
You get older and seriously begin to not give a shiit what other people think of you. For me, I was seriously afflicted with your "disease" almost to a point of paralysis, socially. I slowly got better during college, and in my 20's and made a huge leap after 30. It required some culling of friends, I'll be honest. People who perpetuated that behavior, owing to their own insecurities, had to go.
There are still some aspects of my personality I keep secret for fear of total rejection but they are my private things and I can live with not being a total freakoid compared to others.
Jennifer |