I’ve had a pretty rough time with people, from being victimised by bullies at school to being at the receiving end of abusive relationships. It’s all lead me to become extremely guarded and reserved, generally mistrusting of everyone, and extremely introverted. However, I have begun to crawl out of my shell in the past couple years. I almost crawled back in because of a few errors in choosing new friends that backfired on me, but I feel I’m at a better place to meet new people now (when I’m not feeling totally misanthropic and nihilistic). I know now that I am a very good person with a lot to offer and that I deserve friends who will reciprocate those things. I just need to get better at taking that leap in getting to know new people and not being so aloof and standoffish with everyone.