Do you remember that thing you badly wanted but were too scared to ask for? Perhaps you wanted to ask for a raise, help, or even sex. Perhaps you knew there was nothing inherently wrong with the ask, and that a yes could be the best thing that would happen to you all day, week, or month, yet askophobia – the crippling fear of asking for what you want – froze you on your tracks.
It’s cliche, but confidence is important in all aspects of life: You need confidence to apply for jobs and bid for higher pay. You need it to tell your crush you’ll love to have coitus with them. Without it, your statements will sound like questions, and your worth will be questioned. Without it, you simply lose.
Atelophobia is a relatively common phobia, and even though it is an abnormal/excessive desire to be perfect, it is usually not a life sentence. The fear of disappointing people is a problem that hides in plain sight, masquerading as a positive trait. It will often feel as though acting out those behaviours were in your best interests, but they aren’t.
Intimacy in friendship is a profoundly close and vulnerable relationship between two friends. An intimate friend is someone you trust and feel safe around. You will most likely have shared experiences, mutual values, common worldviews, and a desire to communicate with each other in a completely honest, transparent, and exhaustive manner.
Setting boundaries in friendships is important to maintain healthy relationships and ensure both parties are comfortable and respected. Without boundaries, friendships quickly become one-sided, toxic, and in some cases abusive.
It’s sad when you don’t have friends to share nice experiences with. However, being alone is better than having toxic friends, because they would ruin your experiences and make you miserable. And the worst part is that you may not even know it’s them. In fact, very toxic friends might end up convincing you that you are the problem.
Is self-control and discipline about resisting your desires, or about doing what you desire? Depending on how you see and approach it, self-control and discipline can either be a nightmare or an enjoyable act of self-love.
Faith is a word that is revered by many people but abhorred by many others. For example, most religious and spiritual people think it is the secret to miraculously bringing their desires to reality, while many non-religious people think faith in that regard is simply self-delusion and has no relevance in the cold-indifferent world we find ourselves in.
However, faith on its own is a neutral concept, and given the right context, can be something very powerful to understand, cultivate, and deploy in overcoming life’s confusion, and difficulties to achieve success and happiness.
I’m introverted and a bit asocial. I’m often tempted to stop talking to the few friends I have. But, friends are important. Not just because everyone says so, but because they really are. Apart from the social benefits, friends help you stay sane. Friends reflect your emotions, values, and personality to you. They are the few people who truly see who you are. They are the ones who can save you when you turn against yourself. And, if you’re lucky, they are the ones who will stand by you when the world comes crashing down.
Good friends don’t have to be perfect. You don’t have to like everything about them. If you are honest, you will agree you don’t even like everything about yourself.
Trauma is an unpleasant psycho-physical response following an event (or series of events) that was perceived as a threat to a person’s physical or psychological well-being and surpasses their ability to cope (handle or adjust to it).
Think of it like being bitten by a snake. The initial bite may sting for a split second, but that is not the killer. The venom, which takes minutes or even hours to slowly deteriorates the cells and organs is what kills. So also, a traumatic event may last a few seconds or minutes and be unpleasant on its own, but it is the effects of it over the months or years that slowly wreck the traumatized person (i.e. the person who experienced the traumatic event).
