I have a question that I wrestle with regarding my personality traits. Being an extrovert who loves people I value heart-to-heart relationships and my life is pretty much an open book, depending on the situation. Because of these personality traits, my closer friends frequently compliment me on my genuineness and vulnerability/openness, but now I am starting to question the validity of these encouraging comments. Recently I left a group of friends partly because all my friendships seemed on the surface, and there was no room to be authentic and help me figure out some of these life problems I have been dealing with, namely anxiety, self-esteem issues, and loneliness. Now I feel like no one values or has time for deep and meaningful friendships anymore; and no one seems to give a rat’s *** about me. When I try to tell the truth and be authentic, no one seems interested to seek me out or care about me. Often times not even my close friends understand me. I kind of feel crazy. It’s like the world has turned around and forgotten about me. Yes I understand I can’t spread myself out to thin with people. Yes I can’t pour my life into every person I know. My therapist has somewhat lessened these feelings and have tackled them directly. I feel like I don’t have an issue with making friends, as people have told me that I am very good with people. However, I still insecure about who I am as a person. Do people really value authenticity or vulnerability in relationships? Or am I just too offensive for anybody to handle? Are there really people out there who give a damn about me or sharing life’s struggles with me?