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Should I go to D.C. ??
So for my school there's an ad for Juniors and Seniors to participants in a paid internship for about 7-8 weeks during the summer then after all the for a week we'd go to an all expenses paid round trip to Washington D.C. I want to go but I'm having doubts It's very hard to talk to people i think it's social anxiety but a doctor has never examined me so I'm not sure. I don't want to be in a place where I don't know anyone and I won't be able to come home if I'm uncomfortable I live in California and that's a huge distance from my comfort zone. Another doubt is the trip is from July 9, 2017 - July 14, 2017. But on the 14th there is a concert I'd told my cousin I'd go to with her and I don't want to break that promise but I don't know when on the 14th I'll be back and the concert is about 3 hours away from home. And one last doubt I have is that this has to be too good to be true. The internship is a paid one I must work 35 hours a week meaning I'd make decent money and the trip is all expenses paid. I think this is some type of scam but I wonder if I'm just scared to go and making things up in my head. I want to know if I should just go to D.C. or if I should stay. I've already looked into it and in order to fulfill the internship requirements you must go on the D.C. trip.
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At some point in life, you'll need to get your social anxiety taken care of. I had the same thing back as a kid up into high school. I finally realized that when I was an adult, I would need to be able to talk to people without problems to get along in society like calling customer service if there was a problem on my bill, letting a gas station attendant know there is a problem with the pump you paid for, etc.... You cannot avoid people and live a normal life. Any other issues you may have are easily resolved. Your issue is getting over social anxiety. I prayed and God told me what to do one step at a time. The process moves at a pace you're comfortable with. But if you're daily doing this, you will progress fast. I was done in two months time and definitely felt a changed person and it felt good In case what I share on how to do it, you may question as I got the answers in my mind, I came across a book as an adult more recently. It is titled "When anxiety attacks" by David D.Burns and it it, for social anxiety, I found the exact same recipe for getting over the anxiety.
None of this involves using people you already know because you already have some comfort level there For this exercise, you will have to drop the teaching, “Never talk to strangers”. Just use common sense and talk to people in public places where other people are around and don't go off alone with anyone. So here's your lesson.
1. Smile at strangers every day as you come across them. When you are comfortable with this, move on to step 2 (Even this was hard for me because I felt a smile would encourage others to start talking to me and I was terrified of holding conversation with people)
2. Smile and add saying hello to people you don't know. This is already harder because your mind will be going, "They're gonna think I'm nuts cus I am saying hi and they dont even know me." When you can do this without feeling awkward or shy, move to step 3
3. Smile and say hi to and then pay a compliment to another person you don't know. It could be telling the grocery clerk you love her necklace. Keep paying compliments to people until you can do so without being fearful of their reaction or simply the act of doing it.
4. Smile, say Hi, and start a conversation with a stranger. Here's an example. When I'd be at a clothing rack and another woman was there...no matter her age, I would make a comment to her about the clothing. I'd pull something off the rack and ask what she thinks of it for me.
Keep trying statements with a question to get responses from a person. If they don't open up and start responding and sharing some of their story or thoughts then they are part of the 10 % of people who are hermit like and don't like being around people or talking to them. I took a class that taught about personality types and discovered that 90% of people are very friendly but will not start conversation first. If you can learn to start conversation first, in every situation, you will find that the majority of people respond in a very friendly and supportive way. They won't find the fact that you start talking too weird. Once they figure you're a naturally friendly person you will see them willingly respond back and share bits and pieces of information and such.
I was trying to pick ripe but not over ripe melon one time when an older woman was tapping and listening to the melons. I asked what she was doing and she explained that there is a certain sound it makes so I learned something. Later we bump into each other in another aisle, and I say, "Well Hello again!" Her response, "Hello again. Do you use coupons?" "Sometimes." "Do you buy this product," she shows me something in her cart, "Yes I do." "Well I happen to have a coupon for a great deal on it if you'd like," and without waiting for my response reaches into pocket and hands it to me. You'd be amazed at the conversation you could have with people and be able to share helpful info with them or vice versa. And sometimes in the conversing you may find people who you have some things in common with and you decide to keep in touch with and exchange cell numbers and /or get their name for facebook friending. Once you are comfortable with talking to one person, then its a small matter to talk to groups of people.
This should help you.
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