Today I was given constructive criticism. It was given in an encouraging and kind way but I still felt shakey, my tongue went numb, and I later cried. The criticism was about how I tend to observe conflict instead of intervening. This "freezing" up is something that I have hated about myself for some time. It's so difficult for me and I feel like a boy more than I do a man. Having someone else point it out though just made me feel the full weight of my shame. My instincts what me to just "run", but I know I need to work on this. Despite a lot of growth in assertiveness, this still feels insurmountable