Replies to '03/14 Overprotective Moms'

I was so much like you at that age and I was lucky enough to learn a few lessons that helped me to understand that for the most part, people are trustworthy.  

You're not wrong to have fears... fears keep us safe but they shouldn't keep us from doing things that aren't dangerous. I took a theater arts class and made myself do some things (safe things) which were outside of my comfort zone. If you try to do that, you'll begin to grow out of your fears. Busses, for example, are mainly safe. There's a bus driver to keep order, there's lighting and if you feel threatened by someone on the bus. You can go and speak with the driver or choose not to get off the bus until the feeling of danger (or passenger you fear) is gone.  

One of the ways I learned that people are mostly trustworthy comes from being extremely absent minded. I've "lost" my purse or wallet about 20 times.... I've gotten it back 20 times and one of the times it was returned, it had money in it which was not there when I lost it. (I keep no money in my purse or wallet) The woman who returned it with $20 in it was worried that someone had taken my money and left the wallet and she didn't want me to be disappointed in people!! I did have my purse stolen from a grocery cart once and that was horrible but that was just one bad person in a shop full of good ones. If you ask yourself what you would do if you found a purse, I'm sure you'd do what most people would, return it :)  

Watching the news and reading the paper gives us a very skewed sense of how the vast majority of people are. It's smart to be a bit fearful and watchful but you miss out on so much by believing that "people aren't trustworthy" because that just isn't so.  

You're already well on your way to maturing and becoming a brave person because you're keeping yourself safe and trying to find a way to grow!