[SophiaG]

This is a repost since the last thread i posted was in the wrong section.

but, i'd like some insight on how I am overly sensitive. Am i empathetic? Do i have a lack of capacity to take criticism? Do I have a weak ego? Is it something else?

okay. Examples:

When I am on an atheist forum, even though i agree with what most of the people there believe, i disagree with how they express themselves and it makes ME feel that if i ever changed my beliefs, i would not be accepted or loved anymore and would instead be treated as stupid/moronic. This makes me mentally tense up.

When I am with my christian friends, i feel as though i can't open up because they would try to convert me. So i fee uncomfortable there too. I tense up there too, thinking that they'd become very angry if i told them my beliefs.

When I am criticized, it makes me feel bad about myself, as though i am no good and if the criticism continues, i begin to cry.

people call this tough love.

When I want to do something, but know other people would disapprove I will shut down rather than state my opinion and withdraw.

What is this? This reaction? I feel like all these reactions are connected in some way?
__________________

[moto7]

i have a strong feeling about this topic i grew up in an inactive home which later fell apart, my dad was sick and he, i believe, he tried to hide from his illness by over using his pain medication.. this tore my house apart, while this was going on i began to date a girl from a very devoted home. from the beginning they tried to convert me set me up with LDS missionaries the whole bit. i didnt budge. neither did they. but this girl stayed with me it got serious we got to the point that we decided the only way we could stay together is if we got pregnant. so we did, boy did this just reinforce all her parents had been talking about, and during all this time my dad got intoxicated and drove into a tree, he died on the way to the hospital, another thing for these people to look down on me for, and wow did they feed her full of ****, so me and this girl get married, six months pregnant, i worked my *** off to supportour little family, her family did everything they could so she would rely on them they even took her car away so if she had to go somewhere she had to call her mom to get around. so she was forced to spend more time with her family and they really turned up the trash talk. we had the baby, wonderful, i gave up everything i had so i could take care of them, friends, my motorcycle, i did a good job, but each day my wife spent away from me she began to slip and feed in to what was being said about me, my family, my past, and my future, finally she sided with them and left, decided they were more important that us sticking together as a family, i lost that fight, i got judged, labeled, and chastized because to them i was not good enough, boy did this do a number on my depression i was already dealing with, hiding from, now it took over, and things went more than down hill. since then i have been through so much more, in and out of the hospital trying every treatment possible, and still fighting, this did not help how these people looked at me, so now i still have to deal with their **** talking fighting for my visitation with my girl but this is something i will have to fight through until my girl can make the choice on her own. im sorry i just rambled on so much this is just one of those things i have not talked about much, thank you, jeremy

[kindachaotic]

Moto7, You weren't rambling, just saying what you've been & are going thru.
Somehow you ended up here on PC & that's what it's for. Everyone's kind & no one judges, lots of support & info.

My heart goes out to you & all you've been thru. Be proud you've never given up on yourself or your daughter.

After you're comfortable, post in other forums that apply to you.

Take care.

I may have suggested listening to Brene Brown before. If so, I apologize.

http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown...erability.html

[buddhablessd]

My path was to become spiritual first,to know yourself before you can properly deal with the ups and downs of life, and others.
My personal path was to pray first. I was ,at the time,ambivalent
of a god, yet I prayed with imagination, I was at the point where I was open to try anything, hit bottom basically, and open to surrender control, the illusion of control that is, and I just wanted to die(stop suffering)and trust "something"I was confused. So I prayed with imagination.
I started going through the motions of recovery, groups,etc.
This led me on a spiritual path,(yoga, buddhism(non-religiously), meditating practices,(pantajali,hindu,zen), I realized in one sitting, while in prospect park(bklyn. n.y.), that ( I think I awakened, but not sure), there is no space or time in the spiritual , which is ubiquitous, so what happened ,past present, future, and what is happening now, is one and the same.
Which means, past, and future are already known to spirits(god is a spirit). Its really beyond word and understanding, and hard to articulate, which is why meditation exists. transcend the tricks of the mind(maya in sanscript). The veil of illusion. Fear drove me back to god and the bible, and christianity.
BB

[Perna]

It sounds like you have a good imagination, but one that might run away with you sometimes and have you thinking about future possibilities instead of present situations. We only have the present in which to live; when we "worry" it is usually always about the future and we can't know the future.

Projecting what others are going to do in the future (not like/love you or make fun of you for expressing your opinion or having a viewpoint not the same as theirs) is even more of a problem because we often don't know those people very well (so why care what they think?) if at all, presently, so then trying to do future thinking with such non-existent people gets even more dicey!

Stay with only yourself and only in the present and I think you will feel a lot more comfortable. Yes, you can imagine what it will be like to change your point of view or beliefs in the future but leave other people and their feelings out of it! Other people can't make us feel one way or another; that's all our own background and experiences and thoughts coming from inside us, not out there.