Despite being pretty shy and introverted growing up, I was always very clingy to those that I really liked. Whether it be a friend or relationship, I wanted to give them all my attention, wanted to talk to them all the time, just wanted to be part of their daily lives.
As I got older, I realized that clinginess was very off putting to people., so, I tried to change it. I stopped talking to people on a daily basis and I stopped wanting to hangout with them all the time. I didn’t want to be a nuisance to everyone; and as I continued, I found myself being more and more alone.
As a result, I think I got even more shy and afraid to connect with people. I used to be someone who would say ‘I love you’ all the time (to friends or SO) but now I barely ever say it to anyone, even family.
Thankfully I’ve met some really amazing people that I consider best friends, but even still I keep my distance from them. I can’t bring myself to engage with them more, and because of this I found that I now come off as uninterested and closed off. Like I don’t want to be around them even though I really really want to,
How do you properly show affection and interest to your friends? How do you find the middle ground between the 2 extremes, and is there even a middle ground?