Anonymous #5 said:

The only way to get over your shyness is to force yourself to socialize, and do it a lot.

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Anonymous #6 said:

I used to be pretty shy myself.  I was also physically inactive and skinny.  I stayed with one particular girl way too long, and when it didn't work I was pretty bummed out.

I started going to the gym and lifting weights.  Over time I started getting stronger and got into the best shape of my life.  It was amazing how much better I started feeling both about myself and about life in general.  This was the most recent, and probably best change I've made in my lifestyle.

Another big change was back when I began smoking pot in college.  Before I was very conservative and set in my ways and views about life.  After I learned to appreciate the herb I became much more laid back and open-minded.

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Anonymous #7 said:

i've been through the depths of literal insanity and every type of abuse in spades at an early age. by the time i was 13 i had seen the inside of mental institutions and all the wonderful things they had to offer. there was never anything wrong with me btw. i've gone through a drug arrest and being blamed as a rat (i wasn't) and subsequently went through 8.5 years of a 10 year probation sentence, i've built a career from nothing, loved and lost, bought and sold property and lived on the other side of the world for my soon to be ex wife. i don't know if i'm better from any of it; i just know that i'm alive, and at this point i seem to be barely hanging onto it. nothing seems real. i've been disassembled so many times as a person i'm not sure i'll ever be made whole again. i sometimes think that if i am an aspect of god, i'm an aspect that's assigned to examine his cruelty. i'd be angry but i guess i can't be angry at myself.....

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