Southbound, good to see you here again .
I've had similar experiences; I've always felt out-of-sorts about relating to people, and then something dramatic happened to make me, well, at least realize that maybe I'm mistaken to think I'm unworthy, and/or that no one cares.
The best counter-example of my fears/suspicions happened 3 years ago, when a couple who were once employees but mostly friends of mine heard my vehicle had "bit the dust" and gave me, no strings attached (and free), their 2nd car. "You...are...loved" was what they insisted was the sole reason. They knew that it was very hard for me to take that in, and their gift was their way of reinforcing it. They both died shortly after, but their gift reminds me every day of what has been a hard acceptance curve for me.
Like you, mine has been a long process of shedding the isolationist stance of "who, me?" and then something like that happens. It's a process of building the trust that relationships can be safe, and can even spring from that hard-to-grasp unconditional love.
Thanks, Southbound, and KayFly, for your reminders that maybe it's not all gloom, that maybe we really can connect, even when it seems so out of reach and that there was, indeed, a connection, and it was from the heart.
I've had similar experiences; I've always felt out-of-sorts about relating to people, and then something dramatic happened to make me, well, at least realize that maybe I'm mistaken to think I'm unworthy, and/or that no one cares.
The best counter-example of my fears/suspicions happened 3 years ago, when a couple who were once employees but mostly friends of mine heard my vehicle had "bit the dust" and gave me, no strings attached (and free), their 2nd car. "You...are...loved" was what they insisted was the sole reason. They knew that it was very hard for me to take that in, and their gift was their way of reinforcing it. They both died shortly after, but their gift reminds me every day of what has been a hard acceptance curve for me.
Like you, mine has been a long process of shedding the isolationist stance of "who, me?" and then something like that happens. It's a process of building the trust that relationships can be safe, and can even spring from that hard-to-grasp unconditional love.
Thanks, Southbound, and KayFly, for your reminders that maybe it's not all gloom, that maybe we really can connect, even when it seems so out of reach and that there was, indeed, a connection, and it was from the heart.