I realized that I have this deep-rooted belief that I don’t know how to develop long-lasting friendships and that people don’t really want to be my friend or are interested in being my friend. I look at my life for evidence and reinforce this. I have college friends who I live near but with life getting so busy with work, etc, we don’t really hang out and barely text/talk on a weekly basis now. I used to work in a corporate environment but am now self-employed, so I find I’m getting more lonely than I have before. I feel like because people don’t reach out to me and I feel like I’m always the one reaching out first, it leaves me feeling unworthy because I think thoughts like why don’t people reach out to me, people don’t like me so that’s why they don’t reach out or invite me to do things, etc. Because I feel like I’m unable to sustain these connections in my social life, I feel like it’s also affecting my work life. I think if I can’t even make friends – how could I get clients to work with me, clients don’t want to work with me because I’m too boring, I don’t know how to create a friendship with clients, etc.
What bridge thoughts can I practice to get over this insecurity of making friends/connections? 🙁