Article: Look within yourself to decide how comfortable you feel opening up to someone. You may feel more vulnerable at some times than you do at others, and it's okay to guard yourself when you don't feel comfortable. Identify what you are comfortable with, as well as what makes you uncomfortable. Each time you're with someone, take small steps to push yourself to get closer to them while still honoring your comfort level. You might start by offering a nice comment to a coworker. On another encounter, you might offer them a small token of friendship, such as a donut or coffee. When you feel ready, you could invite them to do something. Smile and greet people when you see them. If someone makes small talk with you, participate in the conversation instead of giving them one-word replies. When you see someone you know, take a minute to say hello and ask how they are. If you're shy, you might be used to minding your own business in public, so start slowly. Work on making eye contact and smiling. When you feel more comfortable, start chatting with people more often. Be willing to meet new people and expand your social horizons. See the good side of your friends and acquaintances, and take an optimistic view of your relationships. If any new opportunities or invitations come your way, accept them. For instance, if your classmate asks you to study with her later, say yes, even if you aren't sure you'll like it. Give her (and yourself) a chance. Build connections with other people by being interested in them. Try to find out more about your acquaintances' goals, families, likes, and dislikes. When you're with your friends, ask them about any projects they've been working on or issues they've been dealing with lately. For instance, you could ask something like, "Why did you decide to major in architecture?" or "How are you liking your new apartment?" Of course, you don't want to ask anything too personal, like "Why are you getting divorced?" unless you know the person well and get the sense that they want to talk about it with you. To maintain a friendship, asking questions isn't enough you've got to talk about yourself, too. As you get to know people, share more of your thoughts and personality quirks. Opening up to others will make them feel like you're invested in the relationship. For instance, if your closest pals are sharing their dreams, it might be nice to share your own. You might say, "You know I've always secretly dreamed of spending a year traveling the world." Consider telling your close friends that you're trying to stop pushing others away. That will help your friends understand you better. They may even be able to help you, if you let them. Once you've connected with someone, do your best to keep them in your life. Don't cancel social plans you've made, even if you feel anxious. Respond to your friends promptly when they reach out to you, and if you don't hear from someone for a while, call or text them yourself. Keeping in touch with people can be hard work, especially if you're used to ducking out of relationships when you get uncomfortable. However, if you want to keep people around, you've got to stay on their radar. If you're really not feeling up to talking, don't leave your friends hanging. Say something like, "I can't meet up today, but I'd love to see you soon. How about Thursday?" If you've let things lapse with someone you care about, call them up or email them. Explain why you pushed them away, and apologize for any hurt you caused them. If they're willing to revive the relationship, promise to treat them better in the future. If a former friend doesn't want to revive the friendship, accept their answer and leave them alone, but let them know they can contact you if they change their mind. Keep in mind that apologizing won't fix a broken relationship overnight. To make things right in the long term, you'll have to be a better friend from here on out.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Let your comfort level be your guide. Have a friendly demeanor. Stay receptive. Ask people questions about themselves. Share things about yourself. Make an effort to stay in touch. Repair damaged relationships.
Article: Be sure to save each picture that you find to your computer. Try to find a variety of cats that vary in size, color, hair type, etc. Also, make sure that you get some pictures that are close-up shots as well as photos that show cats engaging in their everyday routine such as walking, eating, lying down, and interacting with people. You don't have to limit your picture search to the internet. You can also find similar pictures in magazines and pamphlets. Look at the picture and determine where you are on the anxiety scale. You do this by deciding how much anxiety you experience on a scale of 1-10. One represents virtually no anxiety while 10 reflects extreme anxiety. As you do this, try to keep yourself calm. Also, do your best to refrain from looking away. If you do find yourself looking away, be sure to refocus on the picture as soon as you notice. Continue this each day until you experience very little anxiety when you look at the picture. Determine in advance how long you will look at the picture each day. 10-15 minutes seems to be a reasonable amount of time to participate in this daily activity. If you find yourself getting anxious, try deep breathing to regain your composure. Sit in a chair that can support your back. Breathe in so that the air moves from your belly to your chest. Count to four as you slowly breathe in. Then breathe out so that you feel the air moving back down from your chest and out of your body. Count to seven as you release the air. Repeat as needed. Try using this relaxation technique as you look at the picture of the cat. After a few days of doing this, the anxiety that you experience should lessen. Be sure to always note where you are on the anxiety scale. Remember, your goal should be to get to a one or two on the scale. Use these pictures to create a collage by gluing them all onto a poster board. When you are no longer experiencing anxiety from looking at the picture of a single cat, now it's time to move on to looking at multiple cat pictures. Taking this approach allows you to slowly build your confidence. Be sure to spend several minutes each day intentionally looking at the collage. Continue to do this until the pictures no longer cause you anxiety. You are slowly increasing your exposure by starting with a picture of one cat and moving to pictures of multiple cats. The goal is to eventually desensitize yourself from cats altogether. However, if you start with multiple cats, it may become too overwhelming, causing you to quit before it works. Therefore, it's important to start with something that you can handle. You may want to hang the collage in an area where you will frequently see it. This can help quicken the desensitization process. However, continue to set aside 10-15 minutes specifically for this activity. Remember, the goal is to reach a one or two on the anxiety scale when looking at the collage. Search for short videos of cats on YouTube that are pleasant to watch and repeatedly view them for a few days. Initially this may be anxiety provoking but you should continue to watch the videos until they no longer cause you anxiety. Watching videos is a great way to prepare you for the transition from looking at pictures of cats to making actual physical contact. It may be a good idea to have a friend preview the Youtube videos before you watch them. This way you can avoid the occasional video that shows an unfriendly cat which could worsen the phobia. Continue to monitor your anxiety scale. When you reach one or two on the scale then you can move to making physical contact.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Search the internet for images of cats. Select one of the pictures and print it out, preferably in color. Look at the picture for several minutes each day. Print out the remaining cat pictures that you have saved on your computer. Watch videos of cats.