When I was 10, I was prescribed glasses because I couldn’t read the blackboard at school. Every morning my parents put them in my school bag & there they stayed, coming out only if I thought no one was looking. At one point the teacher phoned my parents suggesting I needed glasses; ‘but she has them in her bag’ was Mum’s firm reply. NOTHING would persuade me to wear them. I was petrified of being name called & crippled by the question ‘what will people think?’ Do you recognise this? How often in your life (past & present) have you been paralysed by concern over ‘what will people think?’ A friend says she wants to go to an exercise class but never will because the story she’s been telling herself for years is that ‘everyone’ will be looking & will judge her negatively. She’s made no new friends in years & her confidence; self-esteem & world are shrinking. She regularly says ‘but I don’t have your confidence’ & my (perhaps harsh) reply is that I only have the confidence because I’ve done things. I want to do new things, to explore myself & the world. And the way I’ve done this is by putting aside what others might think. I’ve had many, many wonderful experiences, made lots of lovely new friends & as a result, my self- confidence & self-esteem have increased & my world has got so much bigger. Summer, the season of relationships This is part of the … Read more