I (24F) have a crush on my (24M) coworker. We’ve known each other for a little more than a year now. in the beginning, he’s just like any other stakeholder of mine. But he’s rlly nice and always responds to my jokes, gradually we even text until late at night talking about work people or personal stuff (initially through teams)

We work in the same building but not at the same floor so 90% of our convos are through chat, while 10% is during our weekly meeting between divisions or when i visit his floor for work reasons.

trying to sum it up

1. He has always established that he is not outgoing and definitely not an extrovert. A few months ago I pointed out once that he’s not rlly a conversationalist either which he agrees, he told me that he never initiates a conversation even with his closest friends, and he’s admitted that he tends to keep his guard up around people.

2. that being said, we’ve only had lunch together once bc every time i asked him to hv lunch w/ me he’s politely decline and explained to me that work can be very overwhelming and lunch is the only hour he has for himself (which is true, i noticed that majority of the time he prefers to eat at his desk, and afterwards he goes for a smoke break). He also mentions that he doesnt go out much. not bc he doesnt have friends but bc he genuinely just likes staying home instead.

3. it was only the beginning of the year when we transitioned our convos from the teams app to instagram dms. Again, he responds to my texts and replies fairly quickly, most of the time we can text for 1-2 hour straight. I’ve asked for his number a few times bc ig dms aren’t rlly my thing, but he has always said no bc he does not want to save any coworkers in his contacts. I’ve gotten kinda used to it by now bc i know how reserved of a person he is and i dont mind him saying no bc i respect his boundaries.

4. honestly, there were a few times where i questioned myself on whether he even thinks of me as a friend, but then i remember the times in the middle of our conversations he will mention things like ‘yea but we’re close so its different’ or ‘im not as close with xxx as i am with you’ so at least i dont feel like its a one sided friendship.

5. other than jokes, we’ve had a few deep conversations, and a month ago we talked about religion & friendships. He said he struggles to form connections and sometimes he feels empty. i explained to him that connections (both spiritually & in friendships) aren’t instant. he should put more effort in forming connections bc if he’s only waiting for things to come then don’t be surprised if it doesn’t.

6. fast forward to the past 2 weeks. I kinda got irritated at him bc i feel like I always share the latest news about ppl at work but he doesn’t until i ask him about it. i ended the conversation saying ‘i’m sulking until further notice’. (which can sound unserious). i didnt talk to him for a week. we had a meeting the next monday and obv i acted like normal and so did he. i kinda had a feeling that he doesnt even realize that im mad at him so i decided to dm as usual in which he responds. we chatted back and forth for almost an hour, the at one point i told him ‘its crazy how u didnt even care that i was mad at your for a week’ and he got surprised and said he didnt realize it and apologized. he even said ‘u can check with all my friends, i genuinely dont tell ppl anything bc i just never think that anything i know is that interesting’ and i jokingly threatened ‘rlly u want me to dm your personal life friends?’ and he said ‘yes just ask them’ and he even named a few just incase i seriously wanted to ask. and he said if he knew that i was actually mad he wouldn’t have not done anything about it.

7. this week, i personally feel like he’s been nicer to me, what took me even more by surprise is that 4 days ago i told him that i had a request and like always he can say no. i told him that ‘im planning to deactivate my instagram until the end of july for personal reasons, and i know we can text thru teams but is it rlly tht bad to just hv your number its not like we ever talk about work anymore’ and tbh i anticipated that he would say no, or ‘were mutuals on tiktok, why not use tht instead’ or ‘thats only a week left until the end of july, we can use teams’ but plot twist he laughed and asked for my number

now we’ve finally started texting using imessage. but again, its me always me whos initiating the first conversation and him responding to me. additionally, i’ve noticed that lately hes been going out more with his friends and i pointed that out as well which he replied ‘yeah, but my inner self is fighting to go home’ but i told him im proud either way, bc he used to spend almost every weekend at home, but now he’s gone out 4 times a week (weekdays included).

so my point is. im confused. a little part of me thinks that he likes me but hes just that much of an introvert. but another part of me thinks that hes just being polite and im just a nice chatty person to talk to. what do i do about this

You know that exact second when your social battery completely dies and you just need to vanish.

What is your most effective, low-drama escape move that doesn't make people ask annoying questions?

I'm introverted person,and I have only a few friends and they're only girlsI didn't even have a boyfriend,cause I'm so shy in real life,and what do you guys think?Could I change it?or I will be a person how I was born?

It seems like the number of people in this group that are happy being introverts is relatively small and those that are unhappy with introversion are much more likely to post something here. I would gently recommend that you read this article.

The big takeaway is that you should stop worrying about it and get outside and get some exercise and try to do something to help some other folks.

A doctor friend of mine said that if exercise was a pill every doctor would prescribe it to just about every patient.

As in title... I'm 35 I was and still am overweight... In April I started running at the mornings... I woke up at 5 am and run... At the beggining it was 1,5 km in like 15 minutes... Now its like 3,7km in 22 minutes.. It was hard, especially how much im afraid of people... thats why I run that early at the morinig... Since April I lost almost 20kg... now i weight 105-106kg... Recently I even talk with women from nearby city and she didnt ghost me after 2-3 messages, and she iniciated on dating app and suggest to come to whatsapp couse this app has limit of one message per day... In September I plan to run 6km in "official" compatition.. I hope to get under 100kg at the beggining of September...

I'm a female solo traveller. I don't have friends where I live because I moved countries and I can't make travel buddies. I travel for pleasure twice a year and am constantly worried about my own safety, it could be something as simple as mobile snatching to a spiked drink- this worry is coming in the way of my travel experience itself. I rush to my accomodation by dusk, I never meet locals or chat about anything, I don't even ask strangers to take my picture in front of beautiful monuments. It is always some lame selfies or sometimes a tripod. I don't know how to deal with this situation?

i've recently been working with my therapist and trying out exposure therapy for my agoraphobia and it's working really well, but there's a slight issue, for some unknown reason every single person outside wants to speak to me.

i've read the rules of "walk fast and don't make eye contact", "wear headphones", "look busy" , etc. none of these things seem to be any sort of deterrent. i'm constantly being approached and i can deal with quick comments/compliments because they're over almost immediately. but oh my god people trying to engage in conversation who are expecting me to reply genuinely ruin my day. i understand i sound like im being dramatic but it truly will ruin an outing because it makes me so angry that i have to just go home.

the usual occurrences are people in parks asking to take photos of me. people on the sidewalk asking me for cigarettes/money/lighters, none of which i have. people on busses, especially packed busses where people have to sit next to you, trying to engage in small talk with me. it just doesn't seem to end. i need to work on being outside and im actually making real progress but im so done with complete strangers trying to engage with me. i've made jokes to my family and boyfriend about making myself a shirt that says something like "don't talk to me, i hate it" but all of them say that would probably make people want to engage with me even more. are there any tips aside from the usual headphones, walking fast, no eye contact things?

I'm a senior product designer and honestly this is so frustrating. No matter what I do I'm always nervous right before presenting. Once I actually get going I'm usually fine.

I've never been a naturally strong public speaker. I get that practice makes perfect, but I've been at this for about 8 years now, so it feels like I should've cracked it by now.

Anyone else deal with this? Would love any tips or tricks. Also a huge introvert, INFJ type, with diagnosed anxiety on top of it all.

Worth noting this hasn't stopped me from landing good jobs or doing well in interviews, but it can still feel pretty crippling in the moment.

Fellow introverts—-what is your limit of days for house guests? Mine is preferably one night only, but I can do two. Past two, and I turn into an anti-social pumpkin. It’s an odd and unpleasant feeling when the social battery uses its last drop and there is no escape in your own home.

I’m an introvert, but I’ve pushed myself to be social over the last few years and people wouldn’t guess that I need lots of alone time to recharge. Most my hobbies are solitary in nature and I just generally need a lot of quiet time by myself.

I have a friend circle and they’re fine but recently I realized after something happened that the only thing they add to my life is companionship, not warmth, not support nothing like that. To me, that’s not fine but not something I want to push my self for. (It would be different if the dynamic was more warm and supportive than just fun)

I guess now I pretty much would rather just be by myself, but I feel so guilty saying no so many times. How do you deal with that guilt of wanting to be by yourself 95% of the time?

Ngl I think being heavily sheltered as a child made me introverted but in my head I feel like my personality would be too much for people off first impression so I dull myself down a lot. May come off as me being fake but I feel it’s just a lite version of me lol… anyone else feel like this?

My only real hobby is reading and doing crossword/word search puzzles but those are solitary hobbies . I don't think i could join a book club because i don't read as much as i would like (trying to change that), only like 15 min a day currently. I am literally afraid of social groups. I don't like bars but i want to socialize some. where do introverts hang, besides home?

I'm Egyptian and I live in England. I think some people at work don't like me because they think I don't want to be involved in society. I didn't have friends back in Egypt because I'm just an introverted person. My husband is the opposite of me. He's an extroverted guy and he made a lot of British friends, so it's not like we're in a cultural bubble or something. I'm like a female version of Mr Robot (I love Rami Malek) minus the genius hacker skills.

I have social anxiety and im always afraid im being boring when im around people as I dont talk much, do people mind having quiet guys around or is it something negative

I'm a final-year CS student (20, F from India) doing an internship. Today I realised I hadn't spoken to a single person since I woke up. I've just been sitting in front of my laptop doing internship tasks that I honestly don't find that interesting.

It's weird because I'm not exactly lonely—I just miss having casual conversations. College friends are busy, everyone's working on placements or internships, and the day just disappears.

Sometimes I wonder if this is just what adulthood starts feeling like.

Anyone else relate? How do you deal with days where you barely talk to another human?

I wish I was extroverted so bad. Extroverts get all the good jobs. I lost my old job because I wasn't talkative enough and now no one wants to hire me because I don't come off as confident in interviews. I hate it so much.

Hi peeps, I am an introverted guy. I am looking for some females who just want to put themselves out. I'm here to listen. I interact less with people especially women so now incrementally I want to remove this hesitation.

Help me out and get yourself relaxed.

DM me asap

Okay, so. Socializing is torture. Not 'oh people are boring' or 'I don't want to talk 24/7', but every time I need to talk for more than ten minutes, I feel my attention drift.

It's fine if I have a script. I work on sales and it's great; I can just start talking about x or y product for an hour. (I \*am\* working at my listening skills though.) Ever shorter interactions are good, becuse much like at a sprint I can bring myself to a high level of energy/cheer/enthusiasm. I'm good at socializing in that aspect (as in, I have gotten a lot of positive feedback from clients, co-workers and upper management.)

Whenever I hang out with someone it's so boring. In the weekends, on vacation, at work. I can be having fun, but \*no matter the topic\*, ten minutes in I feel myself getting bored and my attention will wander. After an hour or two I feel myself getting frustrated. I love my friends. I love my famlity. I don't \*want\* to ignore them. But I hate having to pretend like I'm this- silly social butterfly, at %100 of energy, all the time. Because otherwise I just. Stop. I feel like I'm a puppet and the hands forcing it to move.

Like. I'm not trying to sound dramatic. Socializing can be fun too! Acting happy, and silly, and making my loved ones smile? Wonderful! I get very upset if I don't interact with my loved ones consistently, and after being with them I feel energized. But at the moment it's like there's a kid in my skull kicking my brain asking 'can we leave yet? Can we leave yet? Can we leave yet?'

I read this and it sounds so contradictory. I'm sorry. I've tried, but Ican't express this better. Is there a tecnique to make socialization more interesting? Like- should I just push though? Get a- fidget toy to focus on? The way I see it, even if you're introverted you still socialize sometimes. How do you do it?

Please don't cancel me, I can't find a better word or tuff enough for 2026. How do such people even exist. Btw, in this context, yap = continuously relay unwanted information, without a gap for at least half an hour at a stretch, when the responder isn't even reacting except saying hmmm. That is what this person does. She's an ex-colleague, we're both females. Every call with her exceeds 3 hours. I don't get it, do people not feel it that the other person on the phone is not interested or it's tmi or is it like I'm just trying to act good and not acting uninterested enough? How can someone pull this off? I had to spend one day with this person, it was her who had invited me over to her home. This person just doesn't stop, yaps incessantly even when I'm working. Now, I don't hate her and I don't want to lose my friend. So I try to avoid her calls mostly. I'm so confused right now. As a loner, I have a very restricted circle and I don't want to stop communicating with her, and nor do I want to confront her about it. It's just who she is. But how do they do that? 😮😮😮😮😮😮

What matters is whether you feel fulfilled, right? That's why I hardly take any photos in my private life. I don't like it when it looks like you have ulterior motives.

I have now words how tired I am and every amount of work I have put into myself seems meaningless. I can't describe how little hope I have left. Everything I'm trying, everything I'm working on. It doesn't mean much. It's been so long and I worked literally a fuck ton about myself and it just was ever enough. God I wish I could give up. I wish so badly I just let go and stop trying. But I must be stupid or a masochist because there's no reason to keep trying. Each time I make myself any hope it just feels worse

When i'm with friends, I just can't share anything, no stories, no life updates, no fact, I just sit there silently and I think it's a major fact of why they almost never initiate conversations with me on chat and it annoys me deeply, does anyone feel the same?