10. Fitting In

Best You Can B

In todays episode, we cover why it's normal to want to fit in and belong, some of the reasons why we tend to feel this way, and ideas of ways around this issue of never feeling like we fit in. No matter how old we are, we all crave relationships, friendships, and connection with others, but can be met with feelings of hurt and rejection instead.

Some reasons why we might feel like we don't fit in:

• We can feel like we don’t belong as a result of things we cannot change, like physical characteristics or our appearance, but there are so many other (more meaningful!) ways we can connect with others.
• Having beliefs that are different from those around you can make it hard to participate in conversations, but there are ways around this as well.
• If we feel like we don’t belong just because our goals are really different from the ones our friends have, the answer is this: We can either keep our goals, have aspirations, and be ambitious, or we can change to fit the mold. That is 100% our choice.
• When we find ourselves growing in different ways or at a faster pace than our friends, we might not be interested in the same things anymore, but a little bit of patience will go along way here!
• With a little reflection, we might find that we aren't as inquisitive about others as we might think, and this can make it really hard for our friends to want to include us. So, next time you have the chance, ask your friends how they are doing and genuinely show interest!
• Like the last reason, maybe we don't listen as well as we should, so try to be a little more open to your friend next time the two of you chat.
• Making friends is hard and requires effort and patience, so don't give up if it just hasn't worked yet!

bestyoucanb.com for more show notes and research links.

Listen to learn more! <3

Until next episode,

B

--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/brigitta-borinstein/support