Yay!

Things I'm not scared of any more:

- Strangers
- Large groups of strangers
- Garages, dark streets, my car at night, or any where a monster/criminal could be living out of sight
- Attracting attention through my appearance
- Breaking rules, within limits
- Coffee dates with people I don't know so well. An hour long conversation used to leave me exhausted, now it doesn't
- Lakes/oceans
- Randomly ending up on stage in front of a bunch of people, say to help the speak display a toy Thomas the Tank Engine as a visual aid
- My relatives. Used to freak me out that there was this bunch of practical strangers I had to converse with once-twice a year. Now I can love them and enjoy family gatherings.
- Airports
- Driving
- Eating with people I don't know very well
- Using public restrooms

Basically, having social anxiety sucks. It made my world very small and very scary for a long time. Now I'm getting a handle on it and I'm happy. Most of you will not understand this at all or think many of the things on this list are silly, but trust me, the silliest things can be very frightening indeed. In a world run by extroverts, my introverted anxiety driven brain can get a little squashed. I am thankful that my particular anxiety is controllable and I pray for those who don't have options.