"The Happiness Project" - making me unhappy

I found this website called the "Happiness Project." The thing is, I was having an okay day yesterday until I started reading, and it made me UNhappy. In particular, I'm having a lot of trouble with:

"Eight Tips to Know If You're Being Boring."
http://www.happiness-project.com/ha...t-tips-for-knowing-if-youre-being-boring.html

and
"Are YOU the One That Everyone Finds Difficult?"
http://www.happiness-project.com/ha...ou-the-one-that-everyone-finds-difficult.html

I'm now convinced that I'm a boring *******. The worst part about the second link is that it doesn't give you any suggestions of what to do if you suspect that this is you. It makes me want to spend even more time alone so that I don't have to inflict myself on the outside world.

About the "Are YOU the one that everyone finds difficult" article....
It said that you MAY be the one, that yes answers MAY indicate that you're the difficult one. Not necessarily.
For instance, when I answered yes that it's hard for people to get people to respond to my e-mails or phone calls, that's because I know my friends are just as lazy as I am at replying, lol.

And if you want tips on how not to be a boring *******, I'd suggest taking some art or cooking classes. Maybe read up on some religion, take up chess, or get deep into activism or politics. Try volunteering. I find that the people who do the most stuff besides just their job usually have interesting things to talk about. And when you're talking to people, try not to use infinitives (You're always doing this; I never did that). It's just something that people usually don't enjoy; it sounds accusatory. Be tolerant of other people's views. And if you say you're going to call back, CALL BACK! I don't like when people do that lol.

I consider myself a very active person...it's a bit more difficult right now since I'm basically unemployed (just a very part-time job), but back when I had a FT job, a PT job, AND all my other stuff, I barely had any time to just hang out at home because I was so busy with activities. I don't enjoy cooking (though I'm trying) and I can't draw, but I play 2 instruments, go to events, volunteer at several places (and about to add 1 more), and I run. But notice the "Boring" article had nothing to do with having enough *topics* of conversation to talk about...it had more to do with people being bored with what you ARE talking about. Like I can go on and on about my marathon experience, and how my training is going for my next races, but I think that's really boring for most people. Reading some of the comments really bothered me...it made me think, wow, what CAN I talk about that isn't boring? People seem to have so many pet peeves.

See, here's the thing... as long as you are prepared to listen to other people, and care what they say, nobody will call you boring. Most boring people show no interest in others, and just want to prattle on about what interests them.

It's alright. I've made a breakthrough and realized what my overarching problem is that is causing most of my other problems. This might be worth describing in a separate post for since it might help other people, but basically, I am just too much of a control freak and a perfectionist. These articles touched a nerve in me because I am terrified that I *might* be boring to people or I *might* be upsetting people. I need to remember that sometimes these things are unavoidable, and yes I probably do bore people or upset people on occasion, but maybe I shouldn't freak out so much at the thought.

ThinkPositive said:

I need to remember that sometimes these things are unavoidable, and yes I probably do bore people or upset people on occasion, but maybe I shouldn't freak out so much at the thought.

Click to expand...

Yup.