Feeling "Special" in Loneliness

This is a normal feeling and even outgoing people are like this too. Accept this feeling as a part of being human. Don't be ashamed of it. At the same time, realize that it's nice to know that other people think like you. It doesn't mean you're not special, it means you are connected to other people. That's a nice feeling too.

steelmyhead said:

I have trouble clicking on threads that hit too close to home. This was one of them. I wouldn't call the feeling special though. For me, I think it's more of a barrier... I find it difficult to let the thoughts and feelings of other people interfere with my own. It's like learning. I hate learning. But learning happens everytime I click on a thread, and the closer the thread topic is to me, the more difficult the lesson.

Click to expand...

I know exactly what you mean. Although I haven't had trouble reading threads on this site, there have been some books that I resisted reading because their content hit too close to home. I guess I'm afraid that it's going to tell me that my way of thinking and behaving is wrong and unacceptable. Changing thought/behavioral patterns is a very emotional experience sometimes. I have to be completely convinced that my old habits will only lead to emptiness and dead ends, otherwise I will never adopt new habits.

I have been trying to look at it from the perspective that everything I do/think is for a reason and I can't be so hard on myself for my mistakes. I try to accept them as a part of being human and incorporate new information in a reasonable time frame to give myself time to adjust. In the past, I gave myself unreasonable expectations about how much and how quickly I should change because I ignored my natural human limits.