That's the one! And I hope that I didn't make you feel as though you'd misstepped-- I know that I'm hypersensitive to disapproval, which includes perceiving it when it isn't actually even there.

If you're ever unsure, feel free to ask me directly! DM or whatever. It's really easy to misunderstand people over text, unfortunately. Just a fact of life of being on online forums. I've definitely done it a number of times on here...

I'm trying to bring this emotional reactivity to heel, with some success-- but it still gets away from me sometimes.

Hey, we're all works in progress :) I've sure as hell got a bunch of dimensions that I know I need to improve on, lol.

I do seem to have something of an affinity for prickly people, and feel compelled to win them over... which, as insecure and easily-hurt as I am, often blows up in my face. Not that this excuses their behavior, of course-- it's more like: if I take some responsibility for gravitating towards such people... then I also have some control. Meaning that I can make different choices, you know?

I totally hear you there. I've been in a similar boat... believe me. I feel like I'm always trying to balance the following two things:

• Recognizing that someone else's choice to be shitty to me is not my fault.

• Recognizing that I can take concrete actions to reduce the odds that people will be shitty to me in the future. (Such as learning how to identify manipulative behaviors, and choosing to spend less time around the people who make me feel bad about myself as a person.)

Glad to hear you're feeling better!! Thanks :)