I feel left out.

[ccharles000]

I don't drink alcohol, smoke anything, watch sports, and am shy around people. I always feel like I am supposed to be like this and it upsets me.

[Danger Mouse]

1. You are who you are. Don't force yourself to be somebody for the sake of others.

:shrug:

[I Have A Dream]

2. I'm sorry that you feel that way, ccharles000.

Our society is not set up for introverted, sensitive people. I hope that you have a few close friends/family who are there for you when you need them. For me, that is enough.

I hope that you stop hurting soon; I don't like the things that society says I should either. I'm OK with that though. What's most important to me is that I like who I am. I think that I'd like you too if I knew you.

:hug:

[femmocrat]

3. Me too!

See... you are not alone! :pals:

[Chan790]

4. Nah...

Everybody has a vice...those just aren't yours.

Two things:

1.) You have a vice. (Everybody does.)
2.) Somebody else in the Lounge most assuredly has the same vice. (It's the simplest demonstration of the law of averages ever.)

[Mutley]

5. Be who you are.

Don't let anyone make you feel bad for it either.

[crimsonblue]

6. so do you at least do crack?

I mean, without that, you really got nothing to contribute. :P

[quakerboy]

7. me too

cept for the upset part. Every once and a while I wonder what it would be like to be the life of the party. or even at the party. But then I realize I really do like reading.

[yewberry]

8. Don't let it upset you. Really.

I do drink alcohol and watch sports, and I'm shy around people, too. Sometimes I feel very left out, especially in arenas where lots of people know each other.

I am supposed to be like this, so it doesn't upset me.

Cheers, ccharles000, the good news is that people do notice you and appreciate what you bring to us. (How do I know that? Because I'm one of those people who's never posted with you, but I know who you are and appreciate you!)

[SPKrazy]

9. ccharles000

I haven't drank for 23 years, haven't smoked for that long, am not a big sports fan, and I've always been very shy around people.

I have come to find that I am more of an introvert than an extrovert, and that I am just not wired up to be an extrovert.

People who can't accept me for who I am, just have to deal with it.

I am what I am!

you are okay :D :pals:

[ccharles000]

13. Thanks

[MikeH]

10. I definitely identify with you

I also don't smoke anything, and I never have.

I occasionally drink alcohol, usually on special occasions. I try to make sure that I don't drink when I am going to have to be driving afterward. I can feel the effect of even a small amount of alcohol. I often have a non-alcoholic beer if I am in a setting where people are having drinks.

I am also in the minority of American males in that I could hardly care less about sports, and do not watch sports. For one thing, I do not want to invest emotional energy in the outcome of any sports competition, particularly when there are many other things, including many vastly more important things, in which to invest such emotional energy.

I much prefer to be running or hiking, which I enjoy doing for myself and which help me to stay in shape, to either participating in or watching team sports. I never enjoyed participating in team sports, and was never good in them. I hated gym classes in school in which I had to participate in team sports.

Actually at one time I took an interest in major league baseball, and especially took a liking to the Chicago Cubs. In particular I did so back in 1967, when I was in high school and living in Naperville, Illinois. It was that year that the Cubs started doing well after having finished 20 straight seasons with a losing record. I liked the idea of rooting for an underdog; this had a lot to do with my having my own painful problems.

It is very painful remembering 1969 when it looked for most of that season that the Cubs were going to win the pennant, only for them to fold at the end of the season, and it would turn out that the Mets won the pennant. The Mets had also been an underdog team, having been noted previously for always finishing in last place. I never liked the Mets after 1969.

I had moved to San Diego with my parents in 1970, and started rooting for the Padres. They had always finished with a losing record until 1984, when they won the National League Western Division, and the Cubs had won the Eastern Division. In 1984 I thought I would be happy with whichever of the two teams prevailed. However the Padres winning, particularly when they ended up beating the Cubs after the Cubs won the first two games of the series, brought back very painful memories of 1969. I just could not enjoy the celebration in San Diego which came at the expense of the Cubs. That being the case, I never liked the San Diego Padres afterward. I would say that that, in particular, ended any interest in following any sports team which I might have otherwise had.

I have always been an introvert rather than an extrovert. I particularly had problems when I was young. In particular I missed out on getting to know a girl who seemed to have a crush on me in high school, which turned out to be one of my biggest regrets in life, if not my biggest.

I had problems with mean fellow students in school, and I had a difficult dad. It took a long time for me to work through the issues which I had when I was young, and to come to accept myself. In fact I have described this in other posts, which are included in my journal.

I am definitely not given to small talk or bantering, either on a message board like this or in real life. I am particularly not given to the kind of bantering often seen in threads and posts in the lounge. And I am not the most knowledgeable person about all the details regarding current affairs; I am glad that other people post them. And I don't like to bring personal drama to a public message board if I can avoid it. I have been posting fairly regularly here since 2002 but still have only about 860 posts. However if I have something which I feel is important for me to say I like to say it.

The most important thing is to be oneself, and to like and respect oneself, and to enjoy being oneself. I have become much better at this since the time I was young (I am now 57).

[KitchenWitch]

11. I do not drink alcohol, or smoke anything either.

I do happen to like baseball, but I have always felt like I am off a bit.

[ThomCat]

12. Me too on all counts.

You wouldn't believe I'm shy, but I've sort of trained myself to get past it. :)

I don't (can't) drink. I don't smoke. I have never been a sports fan. I often feel like a bit of an outcast in casual situations because of this.

That's why my social situations are now arranged with specific people I know and like whenever possible. I get to be social on our own terms instead of on generic social terms. :)

I'd be happy to meet you and hang out, and we'd find stuff we like to talk about, and some food we like to eat, we'd probably end up being pretty good friends after a while.

[Taverner]

14. You like movies and Greek Mythology - what's wrong with that?

[graywarrior]

15. You're one of us.

Weird, but still....you're part of the pack. Ahhhhhwoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!