So I have this friend, and her opinion MATTERS to me because I love her very much. But every time she says something sincerely nice I lose it and zip the hell up and can’t answer. Then feel horrible about it. Because I can’t find words to reply. Deer in a headlight for days.
This is part of social anxiety that I think is sometimes hard to see.
We have been friends for 15 years. And social anxiety STILL causes this reaction.
I’ve learned to say I love you back and thank you but damn it’s hard.
All of this is to say that if someone doesn’t know what to say or it takes them a while to figure out how to say thank you or that they love you too, it may not be coming from a place of unappreciative dismissal.
It may be coming from a well of gratitude that just has an extremely heavy bucket and it takes a bit to get it to the surface.
@ekg1976 🤗 thank you for this and I’m glad your husband has you to understand. Imposter syndrome is hell, really compounds the issues that are already a challenge. doubt is a chatty brat, convinces you of all sorts of things. I bet he’s really great at things and just can’t believe that it’s good, and your support is probably priceless to him.
@Coffee_and_Salt He's got no real idea what a treasure he is, but I do my best to remind him as often as possible 😊
@Coffee_and_Salt My husband has terrible social anxiety and struggles with imposter syndrome, so I see this with him. I'm really glad that you are still friends with this person, she's apparently realized that you are a wonderful human who isn't necessarily perfect, and that is just fine. 🤗