The main one being that I'm insanely demanding of some people and their time. I think when I'm a good friend I return that sort of attention and affection in kind, but I know that I can make it hard for people to put up with me sometimes because of it.

Shyness used to be a big one for me. Now I sort of think of myself as an incredibly shy person who doesn't act shy.

changed when I was 25. I'm much better now. I actually love saying a few words to strangers.

how dumb is that.

Hey,
Just starting going through this thread and your post made me curious. If you don't want to share, I totally understand. Going to read through the rest and post mine.

Peace

That, and my neck.

I can hit the right notes. Which doesn't matter as, since I've been an adult, I do not pay any attention to the words in songs. But stevie nicks reminds me of my voice at its best.

kind of a pair of ducks .

is what gives you character as you age. LOL! Like for me...not liking that I was quiet, dyslexic and an introvert (a tough combination) is what makes me so happy in my own 3D thoughts these days. And I could not enjoy this about me if I had had a family. I would be too strung out to think. And not good at taking care of everybody. So I get to play to my strengths and all because of these original faults.

so that I can lower my hairline just a little bit.
[IMG][/IMG]
My friend Deonsay used to joke around and call me "Fo' head" back in high school because he thought my forehead looks big, plus my big brother once told me that he thinks my hairline is starting to look as receded as LeBron James's hairline.

It looks to me like you've got a pretty full head of hair there. I'm still coming to terms with the fact that I'm basically just a bald guy - I think it will take a few more years, but it's been quite a while now that any semblance of a hair "style" is gone. There are the parts of my head that have hair, the parts that have no hair, and the parts that are somewhere in between. No way that I cut it is going to change that. You, on the other hand, could still rock a pompadour if you wanted to.

fact no hat ever fit my dad and my sister's obstetritian thought her firstborn might have some syndrome till she told him large heads were normal for our family. Think of all the extra synapses you have.

But I understand the desire for something you feel is "broken" to be "fixed."

Yes. You are handsome.

Hi,
I'm a big time worrywart and pessimist. Sometimes this does serve its purpose, I am conservative with money and do not dive into certain situations without thinking things through. I guess that comes from my life's experiences. On the rare occasions when things are going well I am just waiting for the worm to turn. Gee, makes me sound like the real life of the party!!!

Peace

My bff and I joke that that we worry if we don't have anything to worry about. I'm glad to have someone in my life who "gets" that about me.

until someone told me "worrying is like praying for what you don't want"....then one night my 31 yr old daughter drove off in the middle of a torrential rainstorm to drive the treacherous mountain roads to the coast to see some guy. i was pretty close to nuts obsessing over her safety and fate. that kind of self torture is the worst and something i really don't like about myself.

Now I worry at times. And am glad I'm no longer so much of a pollyanna.

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Pootyhead.
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Don't know that I can't change it, but usually choose not to change it.

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CC

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How 'bout those Bears?
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Yep, yep, yep... looks like it's gonna be a hot one.
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to MFM and keeps walking by) (whispers to herself "That was close-phew&quot

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I retire in 3 months, was told by VA ill be totally disabled. I have to take morphine and other pain killers several times a day that dull my senses and makes me irritable if I run to long without taking my meds.

I'm 38 years old, an autistic child that I feel like I am failing. I have a wife that I haven't "been" with in over a year. I have a daughter that thinks I shoot the moon.

I'm broken, depressed, and terrified of the future.

I can't say I hate the choices that put me in this position, but I hate that I couldn't take my daughter skydiving as I promised her on her 16th birthday, I hate that my patience level with my son has made me feel like I am failing him. I hate that I cannot give my wife the personal affection she deserves. I hate that I feel the way I do. Sometimes I feel like my family would be better off with the $500,000 SGLI, I hate that that thought ever enters my mind.

I hate that at 38 I get to look forward to more pain, more surgeries.

Sorry for the rant

they are coming up with better medicine all the time and you should look foreward to those treatments and hold out hope. So too retiring gives you more patience. If you are depressed there are drugs out there that can give you a strong baseline. I know because I am on them. My life is hard in many ways but I am up to it and happy. SSRI antidepression drugs also get rid of my back pain if you can believe it. You have a family that need and love you. Better days are ahead. Science will change things for ya. But you gotta believe. (((HUGS)))

Thanks for the reply. In the words of Joe Dirt, Life's a garden, dig it. Gotta keep on keeping on."

I haven't really addressed the depression issues with the docs. Wife says she is gonna drag me down there next appointment if I don't.

a whole world of pain where depression is concerned. I got my working memory back when I first started on the selective seritonine reuptake inhibitors. And it made me strong enough to get through the worst that life can offer. I learnt that there are many avenues for getting the most out of life. Good luck to you. Happy digging.

incredibly attentive, charming and witty. For about two hours. That's all you get. Beyond that time I would rather be left the hell alone. It gives people a skewed impression of me that invariably disappoints them if they get to know me.

I just zone out. I'm not witty anymore. I lost my sense of humour a while back.

Social phobia, my propensity to avoid everything that bothers me at all costs, depression, I could go on. I must believe that I CAN change these aspects of myself or I will lose all hope, even if I can't see any way out.

there are huge advantages. You should read up on books on introverts that have been published recently.

try and be the quiet person. Minding my own business. More interested these days in what is inside people than on the outside.

I should be a professor or an attorney. But that would have taken post-grad work.
And real-life work. Lots of work. I prefer to do as little as humanly possible.
So here I am.

Christmas presents at my front door. That is right. I came home two Christmases in a row, dropped my gifts, and left the bags there (reading the gifts over time). I also have a book of bags I bought 6 years ago in my livingroom. The bag is ecologically good for the environment and has disintegrated. Books are still there. But give me a job, not the one I have now, and I work like a dog. Working hard feels great when I do it.

I'd like to be shorter. Like average height. 6'3-5/8" is too tall.

I'd prefer actually to be substantially less-smart. I feel awkward about how brainy I am. There's this expectation upon it too...like how dare you want to live and work a normal life when you're capable of curing cancer, writing a transcendent novel, running for high office or creating world peace if you applied yourself to it. It's very autonomy dismissive. Maybe it's not in line with what I want: To be left-alone to bury my nose in books. I think 16th c. cloistered monks had it right...lock yourself away, be self-sufficient and read a lot.

Although, I'm determined to change that! My problem is I'm just as happy reading a good book or sitting in the sun as I am running a 10K. I have friends who're exercise freaks; they can't go a single day without a run or a workout. I can take it or leave it, and at my age it's waaaay better to take it!

I know that the best defense against getting frail is remaining fit. I also don't ever want to take drugs for any condition I can prevent, so diet and exercise are key to staving off that possibility! I've got the healthy eating down pat...if only I could stay motivated to move. And the stupid thing is, it feels really good. It just seems like too much work for my lazy self!

There is relatively little I find likeable about myself.

But the biggest are that I rarely trust anybody, I really really suck at small talk, and I'm extremely introverted.

thrilled to be one after what I could have gone through had I not been one.

... despite being an introvert

I think many of us introverts have the same characteristics, and most likely due to society's expectations feel like there's something wrong with us for being 'who we are'. Check out the book "Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking" by Susan Cain.

Seems like I'm always grumbling to myself, "No good deed goes unpunished."

I have the social skills of an ogre some times.

a concerted effort to be more assertive since I was 25. Unfortunately I was already in the sights of a monster that I didn't know about. If I could take one thing back it would be to not be so nice when I was young. That would have made all the difference in my life.