When I was in my teens and early 20's I wanted people to like me because I had low self esteem. This was exacerbated by my youthful naivety in a relationship that lasted from 16 - 24 wherein as an introverted man I dated an extroverted woman of the same age.
I've never been a socialite, but in my younger years I guess I didn't think to vet my partners or friends, that literally wasn't taught to me as a child, I actually had to develop learning how to do that the hard way through a combination of logical deductive reasoning on a moral compass and trial and error. I had neglectful parents.
After my 8-year relationship split up when I was 24, I just progressively stopped caring about what other people thought of me unless I needed to make an impression for business purposes.
A lot of people put on a song and dance for the sake of mating and romanticism when they're younger, I was never that kind of a guy. I'm highly authentic, always have been, always will be. I equate myself in that regard to being like a Black Hole: I exist as I am, and people shape themselves around me accordingly. It takes the pressure off for me. I actually have high social anxiety because of my introversion, so that's the best way for me to manage and cope with it rather than try to be something that I'm not and tie myself up in a tether.
![Thomas]](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/alonelylife/data/avatars/s/14/14186.jpg?1631136400){kind=avatar}
