He dare not come in company, for here he should be misused, disgraced, overshoot himself in gesture or speeches or be sick; he thinks everyman observes him. ~Richard Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy
This is exactly what most social phobia sufferers feel–everyone is observing them at all times, and regardless of how well we do in a social situation, someone will have noticed something that we have done wrong. We may have made awesome conversation, but they noticed that I ate too much food, or that my makeup was done wrong, or that I was trying not to hyperventilate.
All too frequently, anxiety crushes not only your spirit and your potential, but your ability to take care of your mind and body. ~Jonathan Davidson and Henry Dreher, The Anxiety Book: Developing Strength in the Face of Fear
Again, very true. Before my social awkwardness turned into a full-fledged phobia, I took very good care of my physical appearance. Now I’m afraid to exercise in public because I’m afraid people are making fun of me, and I don’t see the point of making myself look nice because no one is going to see me anyway. Because I don’t feel I look nice, I feel people are judging me based on my looks, and this feeds the phobia.
Nerves and butterflies are fine – they’re a physical sign that you’re mentally ready and eager. You have to get the butterflies to fly in formation, that’s the trick. ~Steve Bull
I feel the need to put the quotation in here that my title comes from. This is true as well, most people feel the butterflies when they meet a bunch of new people or if they have to give a speech. The trick is to mold those butterflies into a way to encourage yourself to succeed, not to let the butterflies rule you.
Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal. ~Albert Camus
A day of worry is more exhausting than a day of work. ~John Lubbock
I’m always far more exhausted after a day out than I should be. It feels like I’ve done a full day’s work in the field, rather than just gone out shopping.
We experience moments absolutely free from worry. These brief respites are called panic. ~Cullen Hightower
Many great ideas have been lost because the people who had them could not stand being laughed at. ~Author Unknown
I’m afraid to do anything because I’m so afraid that I won’t do well at it. For awhile I was even afraid to do the dishes, because I was afraid that I wouldn’t do a good enough job on them. Luckily I’ve gotten over that!
Shyness has a strange element of narcissism, a belief that how we look, how we perform, is truly important to other people. ~André Dubus
We probably wouldn’t worry about what people think of us if we could know how seldom they do. ~Olin Miller
The shy and the extroverted have this in common – that they both fancy they are the center of attention. ~Robert Brault, www.robertbrault.com
The above three come back to the very first quote.
When I am anxious it is because I am living in the future. When I am depressed it is because I am living in the past. ~Author Unknown
Never bear more than one kind of trouble at a time. Some people bear three – all they have had, all they have now, and all they expect to have. ~Edward Everett Hale
When I really worry about something, I don’t just fool around. I even have to go to the bathroom when I worry about something. Only, I don’t go. I’m too worried to go. I don’t want to interrupt my worrying to go. ~J.D. Salinger, Catcher in the Rye
Grief has limits, whereas apprehension has none. For we grieve only for what we know has happened, but we fear all that possibly may happen. ~Pliny the Younger
Fear makes strangers of people who would be friends. ~Shirley Maclaine
