I’m Catholic - I was raised to feel Guilty About Everything.
I also and a 4th generation co-dependent - so I feel guilty about everything bad that happens to my family, and feel compelled to fix everything. And then I feel guilty for being a co-dependent.
I’m like this when I’m trying to sleep, because I have nothing to take my mind of things. I couldn’t get to sleep last night because of a couple of uni projects that are looming on the rapidly approaching horizon, and now, despite the situation being precisely as dire as it was last night, I’m completely unstressed about it.
Also, I hate my inability to be ‘handy’ about things. I’m no good at improvising at a given task that I’m inexperienced at, and I can never get things to work unless I know in advance exactly how to go about things. I’m getting slowly better at this, but there’s still a way to go before I reach the level of ‘normal person’ in this respect.
~ Isaac
You can add me to the growing list of procrastinators. Unfortunately it can be a bit of a problem when you work from home.
I worry too much. I get myself into a complete tizzy. Thank goodness my husband is patient with me. (I would have surely slapped me by now)
I think sometimes people think I’m overly reserved or stuck up, but I think I am just horribly inept when it comes to small talk. I dread surface interaction. I wish I were better at it. If I feel comfortable with people then I can be quite sociable. I just wish I could pretend to be comfortable when I’m not.
Lazy. Procrastinate. Disorganised. Aloof but I talk too much when do bother socialising. And I can’t make up my mind about anything. Vacillate should’ve been my middle name.
Four-star general procrastinator. Average time between meeting a woman and calling for a date: 60 days. That’s average. Time I had my cable modem and broadband account before logging on: 1 year. Time I took to move into my last apartment: 1 1/2 years (yes, I was living in the same bldg, but…)
From reading a lot of your posts, this was opposite of the picture I had in my mind of you. I took you for a very confident guy. You made the great choice of subscribing to the Dope, so there’s one good idea you didn’t suppress.
I’ve got the nice guy problem too, as I already posted, but I am sure that the people around probably think a lot more of you than you give yourself credit for.
If you want to talk, you can e-mail me if you want.
Back to the OP.
For me it is assertiveness… or a lack thereof. I always feel like I am too pushy when I have an opinion and therefore I don’t always push when I need to push to have my opinions heard.
Related to this I am scared to death of being wrong and making mistakes. If somone is relying on me to do something, and I make a mistake doing it, I get incredibly stressed out about it, even if it’s a little thing.
I’m a moron and a doormat. Call me stupid! Unlike Kevin Kline, I’ll let you.
There are some of my favorite people posting in this thread. Y’all should go easier on yourselves!
My height or lack of it. This combined with a receding hairline has diminished my self confidence which was not great to start with. Consequently I often feel awkward when I first meet people and sometimes seem to be standoffish, due to shyness and insecurity caused by my physical appearance.
I get uptight in certain social situations.
I’m also a procrastinator, but I don’t mind that.
I hate the choices I made in my 20’s and I hate that somehow I didn’t “get it” that once you are on career path-you’re stuck unless you jump ship. I wish I had jumped ship a long time ago-now with kids looking at college, 2 mortgages and a debt load d/t a small business failure of my husband’s…I am stuck for at least the next 3 years.
I so regret the choices made in my life-I would so like a “do over”. I would not go into nursing, probably not marry the man I did (but see, I have these wonderful kids and my husband is not a bad guy).
I hate my indecisiveness re: to leave him/ask him to leave. (yes, we’ve been to counselling–he lasted 4 sessions and quit-I went for another 2 years).
I hate that I am not the person that I would like to be–not necessarily in terms of character, but in terms of choices made etc.
I fear that I am falling into Piaget’s (?) generativty vs despair–but with me, it is despair-I look back and see nothing of merit. Talk about underachievers! I am the classic one…should ahve gone to journalism school, or to med school. Didn’t like nursing from the get go–I like certain aspects of nursing very much, but the whole ball of wax? The “profession” is fucked and will likely be replaced in 50 years.
I feel useless in my job (one nurse’s efforts don’t matter a hill of beans against the ignorance, non-compliance and the uncaring system that is health care today), lacking as a parent and a loser as a “Christian”-why call myself that, I don’t believe in the divinity of Christ. And my counselor said that it was time for me to move on! Go figure-lot she knows, heh? And I hate that other people seem to be able to pull it together and at least appear cheerful etc–I don’t like that I cannot.
As to physical failings–I hate my vitiligo, know I am losing my looks and hate that I am that shallow to care about it. Bright spot-I ahve never felt stronger in my body (wish I was 10 pounds thinner, though!).
I am also lazy as hell and spend way too much time on this curiously addicting activity called the internet.
Sorry for the drivel, but I do feel a mite better!
Same here.
I either think I’m the best thing since sliced bread, or the worst human who ever got flung onto this planet. Very little middle ground.
I feel better too. It’s good to know that I’m not the only one with serious insecurities. As you mentinoned already, a lot of people seem so together on the outside, but if we really got a glimpse of them–I bet they would be posting problems similar to the rest of us.
Hmmm, I was actually thinking about this and thought of starting a different thread.
I hate:
My paranoia. If two co-workers are talking I have to beat down the thoughts that they are talking about me. I also have to fight the idea that they really don’t like me and think I’m a jerk. Aw, who am I kidding, they probably do. :rolleyes:
My size. I can’t seem to get enough order in my schedule to be on a regular diet and exercise program. Don’t misunderstand, having 4 kids playing on 3 different Little League Baseball teams thrills me to death, but between practice and work and other commitments, I have very little time to even sleep (although I do). I’m not sure whether that’s all true or whether it is an excuse. I also don’t know whether I will diet and exercise when I “find” the time.
I think I’m supposed to say, Hi Opal! here.
I think I am minorly Obsessive Compulsive and Manic Depressive. I mean, I don’t have HUGE mood swings, but sometimes I feel on top of the world, and other times I feel really low. If I sit down to work on something at home, if my desk isn’t straightened or there is a bit of mess nearby (read: in the same room), I can’t get work done. Rather than clean up, I’ll often start feeling a bit more depressed and not get anything done. Then I feel worse at the end of the night because I haven’t gotten anything done (including cleaning up). The same mess or a different one is there for me the next day to start all over again.
I can’t quit reading SDMB and get to work. 
Thanks, Confession is good for the soul
I wish I could talk to people more easily. We have to attend breakfasts and dinners sometimes for work and there’s always a nice long “networking” time before and/or after the event. I am really bad at talking to people during those times. I just never know what to say. I really should socialize more at these events because often these are the very people that I need to contact for work. It would be so much better if they knew who I am. But I don’t know how to walk up to them and say hi. (Well “Hi” is fine… it’s what to say after that that confounds me.)
I hate that I find something new, get completely, terribly, deeply passionate about it, spend months and months throwing myself into it, and then lose interest in it.
I’m not very good at defending myself when attacked. I’m better than I used to be, but I wish I had the power to intimidate. I always feel ashamed of myself that I can’t just for once scare the piss out of someone who really deserves it.
I hate my bones. They are the bones of an old man, and I shudder to think what they’ll be like when they finally get around to developing arthritis.
This might be a long list:
Like about everyone else, I procrastinate. Pretty bad, too. It’s even worse at work, probably because I hate doing it, and the more I hate doing something, the more I procrastinate doing it, which leads to having to rush to do it all, and me hating it even more. Vicious cycle.
My apathy. I am the king of not caring. Some people are an emotional rollercoaster, I am an emotional teacup ride. Seriously, it takes a lot for me to show even the slightest hint that I care about something. I really have three states of mind: normal/apathetic (90%), happy (9%), and angry (1%, if that.) The anger rarely comes out, and never when anyone is around, because people calm me down. I only get angry by myself, and usually only at inanimate objects. I don’t even get sad. I have never cried because of a movie/TV show/book. I have never creid when someone I knew died, even my own grandparent’s funerals. Some people envy me for this…don’t. While it might be better than being manic-depressive/bi-polar, it is by no means better than being emtionally healthy.
The fact that because of #1 and #2, I let my living space become an absolute shithole. Seriously, it gets to the point where I need to spend an entire day just cleaning up. The thing is, it’s not like I have garbage lying around, it’s that I leave “clutter” around. Bills, paid and unpaid, dozens upon dozesn of reciepts, newspapers, mail, etc…Rather than throw it away when I am done with it, it all gets tossed into a pile near the couch. That pile becomes the entire floor. I also take things out and don’t put them away, like tools, computer parts, etc…I also don’t wash dishes for at least a week at a time, and rarely sweep/mop/vacuum. Right now, it’s decent. Not great, but I recently picked up/sorted the clutter (read: moved it to my porch) and did all the dishes and picked up the kitchen. Still, it’s what most people would not consider clean.
My looks. People (mostly women) tell me I’m cute/hot/whatever, but…it’s not so much that I don’t believe it, I just don’t see it. Maybe because I’m only attracted to females, I can’t see how a male can be attractive, but i think it’s beyond that. It’s more of seeing little things and focusing on them (like apparantly a lot of people do.) I REALLY hate my hair. It’s too thick, grows too fast, get’s curly when it’s long, and when it gets long, it really just grows “out” into a giant poof ball. There, see? Focusing on the small things.
No self confidance. NONE. I’m naturally pesimistic, especially about myself. In addition, I have no spine. I can’t stand up to people, I don’t raise my voice to get my point across, I won’t argue at the customer service desk about my broken TV. I’m a pushover and let people walk all over me.
[QUOTE=RancidYakButterTeaParty]
I was thinking about pitting myself, then thought maybe everyone else has some character flaws they wouldn’t mind sharing–which would make me feel a lot better about my own shortcomings.
I don’t have the strength to divorce my mentally abusive husband. I am weak and keep taking him back 