Three years ago in 2009, I wrote a post about quitting drinking alcohol and starting a healthy lifestyle. Well, that only lasted about six months and then I gradually started drinking a glass of wine or two per day, and that eventually escalated to going out on weekends again and getting drunk to the point of blacking out. So my depression and social anxiety came back because of all the harmful side effects from binge drinking.
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After a major problem with my previous web host, I’m back.

Since Dec 21, this site has been very unstable as I’m sure many have noticed. The problems were so severe that I had to transfer everything to another provider using my own backups.

After several stressful days, things are back to normal and the new host should be faster and more stable than the old.

Thanks to everyone for their patience.

One of my favorite blogs has started posting again!

If you havent been to Sarahs blog, I would highly recommend it. Very well-written and thought provoking.

Finding the confidence

Bob Parsons, founder of Godaddy.com, has written a very motivational article on his blog. This provides hope to shy people everywhere and demonstrates how anything is possible!

Bob Parsons

I needed to get back to my original plan, which was the incubation stage. I had gotten side-tracked in the past few months, dealing with my appearance. It was time to revisit the slow, tedious task of controlled social interaction, self-awareness, and a gradual shift in my thinking patterns. It was time to get back to work. (more…)

There was no magic formula for overcoming social anxiety. That was the stark reality, and thinking any differently was just wishful. It was easy to imagine gradual social interaction leading to gradual belief reprogramming leading to increased social confidence, and so on, but the reality was that I was up against the very core of my being. This core was very structured and routine and most of the beliefs, thoughts, and reactions were automatic. (more…)

Enough was enough. I had come to the point where anything would have been better than where I was. I hated being scared and, to tell the truth, it was exhausting. I hated myself for not being able to walk out the front door and use my new skills. I spent a lot of time working on new strategies and techniques to rid myself of this condition, and I was too scared to implement them. What a waste. I really was a loser. I wanted to scream. (more…)

If a smile is a reflection of ones mood, how does one cope with social interaction when feeling down and depressed – when the last thing you want to do is smile? Ahh¦there lies the problem. I figured if I could find a way around that, I would be well on my way towards mingling with others. (more…)