Pushing myself to be less awkward

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Am I the only one who tries to be less awkward around people and make friends? Like I dislike how people restrict me to a diagnosis and say "she's going to be a loser in life". Even though I first found it so hard, I'm finally fitting in with people and making new friends. I'm still getting used to some of the social concepts(Trying not to be too homest, making myself look nice, hiding obsessions) and I still hang around with my close friends as they know me and trust me however I talk to a wider range of people and last night I even had my first kiss at a party(In a million years I'd never think someone would want to kiss me omg)
Is anyone the same way?

I'm starting to see that labels put on me by doctors and doctors' expectations of me are not all that there is, yes. So I don't think you're alone in this respect. I too am learning how to socialize, and surprisingly, I have a great group of friends at college.

If I compared my social awkwardness when I was fourteen versus twenty-four - I had improved a lot. If I judged my social awkwardness when I was twenty-four and still not making eye contact and still capable of being unintentionally inappropriate to when I was thirty-four I had made a lot of progress both with eye contact an social interactiveness, but still had difficulties in some work situations and could still carry on monologues that annoyed people and still had some lack of sense of propriety. If I judge my social awkwardness when I was thirty-four to when I was forty-four I think I got a lot of things pretty well down pat socially - but anxiety issues still remained along with occasional public stimming without even knowing I was doing it. Since I turn sixty on Friday - I think I usually execute most social situations in a satisfactory manner. However, I am still regarded as a bit odd and making new friends or coping with things like parties are still difficult. But it is a hell of a lot better than it once was. So I think it is a good thing to try to improve one's social skills while at the same time the autism community appeals to the better angels of society's nature to be more accepting of diversity in all aspect of human behavior.

Nope. I try too.

The less awkward I try to be, the more awkward I become.
Looking relaxed takes a great deal of effort.
Ironic, isn't it?

You're not alone. I guess I am less "awkward" because I now can spot and understand a bit more non-verbal comms, cues and social rules. I used to, say, chuckle inappropriately ie finding someone's death due to gross incompetence funny where everyone else is showing shock, surprise etc.

I guess being "less awkward" means we don't unnerve strangers that often with our inappropriate staring and such. With close friends, I often drop the façade, as they clearly don't care. But with strangers, I have to hold back, otherwise people can sometimes find me "rude", because I am blunt with words...

I lack the energy to put on any kind of "normal" façade. some people must expend tremendous amounts of energy merely to appear quasi-normal.

The way I see it, I'm going to sit back, relax and be my aspie self. And if people like me, they can sit back and relax with me. If they don't like me, they can go do something else somewhere else.

I am 57 years old and still trying.

Generally I'm apathetic towards how I come across in general social situations since I lack focus of them. I tend to lack general social interest.. I only care if a social situation gains personal benefit, is mandatory to survival or important to people close to me. If my mother is bringing company over for dinner or I'm visiting relatives or at any other sort of formal event, I try to come across as polite and civil. I'm still not the best at it, but it's improved, even if it's forced. I'm sure it comes off as awkward. it's hard to tell because I have difficulty decoding people's reactions, but my parents haven't scolded me yet so I assume I'm doing an ok job of passing off as normal. When I start working I will have to improve my skills greatly. I would rather not depart myself from work or financial opportunites due to undesirable behavior. I may seek a psychologist who specializes in autism for such purposes.

^^^
hiya Futuristic, I am retro welcome to the club

That's true for me as well. The more aware I am, the more awkward and tense I am. To the point where it's hard to act normal and greet someone, something I never had any problems with before learning about Asperger's. I was better off not knowing.
Looking relaxed takes effort when you're not feeling it.


I don't try to make friends though, I don't want any IRL. I value my me-time too much for that. Time flies as it does.

I'm the same, Iike I'm pushing myself to go to parties and talk to new people.

The one thing that helped me to become less awkward was to accept the fact that I AM awkward. For the longest time, I would try to hide my social difficulties from others, and try to act like they did to fit in. Now, I am comfortable with who I am, awkward or not, and the fact that I am comfortable with myself inherently makes me less awkward, even though my actions are not all that different. I find that it has worked extremely well for me - people respond far better to me nowadays than several years ago, and I've made a couple friends to boot!