Do you feel stupid when trying to socialize?

Post Reply New Topic

Does the likelihood of failure or bad social mistakes make you feel that trying to socialize is stupid for you to do?

Yes. Sometimes I wonder why I even try and why I never seem to learn from bad experiences.

YES

I find it really difficult to find things to say. It's even difficult to keep saying things in response to what the other person is saying when they lead the conversation.

I'm so boring. Small talk is difficult.

Yes. I just posted something similar to this actually. I feel moronic in public places in general, like I just emanate stupidity and ignorance. I feel like I'm off with my environment, and when I converse with people I get in really weird situations like long pauses or accidental staring. I look awkward to people apparently, like they make me uncomfortable. Some people try to take advantage of that, others feel like they are the problem when it is really me.

I agree with the whole "small talk" thing. Unless there's a meaningful point to a discussion it's hard to work with.

I tend to stay quiet, then people call me... aloof, stand-offish, snobby, or just plain weird. If I do get animated and start talking a lot I get this image in my head that I'm just like a donkey braying.

I find initiating conversations very difficult. I'm the kind to sit in a corner and wait for someone to start talking to me. Then I'll respond as best I can. If it's casual/small talk I'll struggle . I guess I do feel quite stupid when socialising.

Im good at socalilzing (i think) with strangers. I just put on a smile and crack jokes and im the funny one.

Its with my actual friends i struggle with. They know the real me so i cant be fake. I usually dont know how to behave with them and these days i hardly even see them.

I have learned that I'm not always going to be successful when I socialize---that I'm going to make a fool out of myself sometimes, and put my foot in my mouth sometimes.

When I was a kid and young man, I just shut up, and was a shut-in. I cared too much about what people thought of me.

When I got older, though, I took the attitude of----I'm as viable a person as anybody else. So what if somebody laughs at me. So what if I make mistakes. Making mistakes causes you to learn from those mistakes if you reflect on them.

I was tired of letting society dictate how I relate to people. I felt like I wanted to relate to people in my own way, and that I will seek not to offend anybody. If people are irritated with little faux pas or whatever, that's their problem.

With informal, unfamiliar environments, "been there, done that!"

Now, I've developed that "sixth sense of sorts" to avoid such informal, unfamiliar environments. At very least, I know enough "to get by!" In some cases, the planned, more formal, and familiar environments, I can do quite well!

Not so much stupid as painfully artificial. As if I were socializing with a group of pilots/lesbians/policemen/etc. and trying to pretend to be one myself. Except I feel that way with almost everyone.

Very stupid indeed.

Not not stupid, I feel awkward when I try to socialize and especially when I run into people who don't understand and don't want to.

Other times I feel bad or guilty for trying to socialize at all though I am an extrovert because I have had people walk away from me or laugh at the way I say things.

I wouldn't say I feel stupid trying to socialize, but I do relate to the fear of failure as far as social interaction is concerned. That's exactly why I try to socialize as much as I can - to overcome it.