Otetiani , as founder of the odd duck club I would like to welcome you ! If being different was a crime half the people on the planet would be locked up and after all God's Word declares:
1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
Peculiar people yes that is what we are but this is not a bad thing- God has made each of us for a particular job in His Body the church-I find it helps when I am going into any situation to stop and thank God for His favor and then relax beleiving Him to handle the situation. This always makes a world of difference and when coupled with the steps I mentioned above can make a real change in how people react to you. Remember people can't see whats going on in your head and heart but can and do read your body language. I am certainly not one of God's more graceful children either but even people who don't intially react favorably to me generally will eventually like me- so in those situations I just take it in stride and let time take it's course. Then there is always someone who just won't like you- this should be considered their problem and their loss- pray for them they probably need it.
This type of problem like all others gets bigger and bigger the more we focus on it. Concentrating on it creates fear and doubt both of which are the opposite of faith- LET US HAVE FAITH IN GOD MORE THEN IN OUR PROBLEMS- He is more than willing to help- our individual weaknesses can be the strongest area of our lives because these are the areas we depend on God the most! Allow your problems to drive you closer to the Lord and they will be your friends and no longer shortcomings at all!
One other thing I would like to add- I am by nature the shyest human being on God's green earth and left to myself would easily introvert- but I was able to overcome much of this by doing some street witnessing on a crowded New Orleans street- I was very difficult at first but then I started to relax and it became easier all the time- soon it was easy to walk up to a stranger and tell them about Jesus. So one cure for social problems is to expose yourself to alot of people and after awhile your fears and/or discomfort will subside. Yes I still have old tendencies but now I have a stronger faith to overcome them.
All the things I am sharing with you come from my personal expierience and I hope that they will benefit you.
As a wise man once said" smile and the whole world smiles with you"
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