-- Posted by The Sarah at 6:38 pm on April 29, 2008 I'm an introvert; even when I'm not feeling shy/anxious, I am just one of those people who "lives in a rich inner world" and I enjoy solitary activities like painting or writing or whatnot. I don't need to be with people 24/7, I just need to feel cared about. Well, I've made good friends this year, and I'm having trouble feeling like I deserve them. They're extroverts; I can have fun with them one-on-one but when we're all in a group I get embarrassingly withdrawn and quiet. I'm just not a big group conversation person, I guess. I just feel like when they see my shy core, they don't/won't like it, and having this new friends is such an incredible blessing but it is also making me feel pressured, like I have to get myself to be less introverted to be better friends to them. It's not them that give me this pressure, it's myself; I just feel confused about why they want to hang around with me. I can get in pretty awful moods and have some emotional problems that I've even seen psychologists for, and I'm not comfortable showing that because I feel like at the core, they are not the same that I am in that respect. We are fundamentally different. I just really respect them as individuals and wish I could feel like I'm in their league. They treat me great, don't get me wrong, I just feel intimidated by some of them secretly, even if I've become really close with them and have already talked to them about what I am basically saying in this topic. Like... I guess I just feel like I'm holding them back or something by being introverted. Help? Any insights?