Background: did a lot of self-reflection and opened up to my buddy about my anxiety that stems from trying to get everyone to like me, resulting in a lot of social anxiety and then putting pressure on myself to go out while I'm still young (23), basically FOMO. This is what he had to say:

&amp;#x200B;

We create scenarios in our head that just aren't there. So let me ask you this... why do you feel like you need to put on this fake self to everybody else? Acceptance? Popularity? Social gain? All 3 of those things don't matter and the moment I figured that out my life changed. Same idea with your wanting to go out and use the "youth" you have. FUCK THAT... YOUR FAMILY AND LOVED ONES LOVE YOU FOR YOU!!! Not what you bring to the table, not what you can do for them, they literally just love you for you and that's it.

Such a simple quote but gold: "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss

Be done with trying to please people that could give two shits about you.

Picture a big house that has a bunch of rooms in it. You wanna spend more time in the "not giving a f\*\*\* about what anybody else says" room but it's scary at first cause you haven't spent a lot of time in there. And that's totally okay. But you want to spend more time in that room right? You wanna be able to go in there and walk around without being scared. The biggest mistake you can do is go in there guns blazing and force yourself from 0 to 100. When we force ourselves too far on something it registers in our brain as a bad experience. 

On the first day go in there and take one deep breath and walk out. On the second day take two. next day 3, etc. Your brain starts to register that as a good experience. As time goes on you start to feel a little more comfortable in that room. In fact, you start to see a picture on the wall that catches your eye and makes you smile. 2 weeks later you see the sun light up the room. You start to see the beauty of being in that room, you start to see how beautiful not giving a f\*\*\* can actually be and the freedom it brings.

Be gentle with yourself just like any part of your body. You can't go right into the gym and bench 315, take it day by day. Literally the same thing goes for your brain and mental health. You come up with a ritual during the day, literally start as small as you can. Something as simple as going to Starbucks in the morning, sitting in the car before you go in and say to yourself "I'm gonna walk in there, and not give a f\*\*\* about what the cashier thinks of me, the guy behind me, etc. I'm gonna be me in my purest form, and if you don't like it, tell them to f\*\*\* off!

"You've always had the power my dear, you just had to learn it for yourself." - Wizard of Oz

Love you, kid.