This thing has been bugging me for the longest time. Here goes: I think I may be afraid of expressing myself, or stating an opinion. You see, I grew up in a household where my father is such a control freak. A perfectionist, if you may, and it doesn't take much to blow his fuse. So if you say something that doesn't sound right in his ears, he's gonna get real mad, raising his tone in every sentence, and every thing that does not look right to him will be something he'll get mad about. And me as a child, I made some petty little mistakes. Of course my dad blew up on me many times. It was never physical, but it was always a verbal assault. Cursing at me, telling me how useless I am as a son. (It still bothers me as of today.) So I guess that's how my problem started. I've always been afraid to speak my mind. I hate confrontations, I hate getting into the littlest arguments with people. Even when taking public transport, if the driver doesn't give me a student discount, I don't speak anymore, in fear of getting into an argument with the driver. I've always wanted to speak up, but I've always held myself back. Can anyone help me in this? I think this is the first time I've talked about this to anyone. Thanks! And sorry for the long post. Here's your invisible potato. :lol:
I'm in the same boat, right down to the verbal assault from a parent. Sucks, doesn't it? What I've tried to do is be more assertive. If someone asks me "what restaurant do you want to go to?" I'll try and say a place I actually want to go to instead of saying "I don't know/I don't care." It's been a long process for me (and it still is) but each time gets a little easier. I don't have any ideas on disagreements since I haven't gotten to that point yet.
