"We probably wouldn't worry about what people think of us if we could know how seldom they do." - Olin Miller

Yes, many of us worry about what other people think of us. Examples of common worries include:

• fear of being rejected, or not being accepted
• fear of others thinking you’re not intelligent, or that you’re foolish
  
• fear of others thinking you’re not equal to them, or somewhat inferior
  
• fear of not being respected
  
• fear of others thinking there’s something wrong with you
  
• fear of others thinking you’re a failure
  
• fear that if you make a mistake or say something foolish, they’ll think less of you

Naturally, the more we interact with people and the more we worry about our interactions with them, the more likely it is that we’ll develop a stress or anxiety condition. Remember: anxiety is a worry condition - anxiety is worrying about what MIGHT occur.

To prevent an anxiety condition from developing, or to reduce an already existing anxiety condition, we want to learn to be more realistic about our interactions with others. Essentially, we want to learn to worry about them less.

One way we can do this is to recognize that most people don’t really think about us much at all, or most often don’t draw the conclusions we think they do.

We’ve become concerned about what others think of us because many of us have LEARNED TO BE HIGHLY CRITICAL OF OTHERS, ourselves. Unfortunately, we’re most often very critical of ourselves, too. There are many reasons why that occurs. However the truth is, just because WE do this, doesn’t mean that others do it, or to the same degree.

People are generally consumed with their own lives, and therefore, actually spend very little time thinking about others.

To live a less worried and anxious life, we want to learn to be less judgmental of others and ourselves, and certainly learn to not be as concerned about what others think of us. Again, if we only knew how seldom others think of us, we’d worry a great deal less.

Here are some other reasons people worried this last week. We received these from some of our Weekly Quotes And Tips subscibers:

• Feelings of intimidation
• Fear of not having a right to my feelings
• Fear of rejection
• Are they thinking I'm fat
• Are they thinking there is something wrong with me
• Fear of being around certain people
• Fear of doing something foolish
• Fear of not being accepted
• I worry about health issues
• I worry about family issues
• I worry about whether I will choke when I'm eating
• I worry about if I'll stop breathing
• I worry about if I have MS, because my symptoms are so nerve related
• I worry about the sensations I get in the mouth and face area
• I worry about dying
• When I go to sleep, I worry about not waking up again
• I worry about not seeing my family again
• About someone I love dying
• I worry about contracting a serious illness
• I worry about losing control
• I worry about losing my mind and going crazy
• I worry that I have OCD and it's irreversible
• I worry about getting cancer or heart disease
• I worry about people thinking I'm inferior
• I worry that others won't respect me
• I worry that people don't think I'm attractive
• I worry that I won't find true love
• I'm worried that I'll be alone for the rest of my life
• I'm worried that people will judge me harshly or unfairly
• I worry about what happens after I die
• I worry about making mistakes
• I worry that I may get fired or lose my job
• I worry that I may not find another job
• I worry that I may have a panic attack in public
• I worry that I may pass out and make a fool of myself
• I worry that I may have a panic attack while driving
• I worry that I may lose control of my thoughts and do something horrible
• I worry that I might lose control and hurt a loved one
• I worry about hurting someone unintentionally
• I worry about my spouse leaving me
• I worry about my spouse having an affair
• I worry about what my family or relatives think of me
• I worry about my finances
• I worry about my medical condition getting worse
• I worry about taking medication and what it might do to me
• I worry about the future and how I'll survive on my own
• I worry that I won't perform well in my new job
• I worry that I won't graduate from school or college
• Telling my husband that he needs to come to my next therapy session
  
• Worried about when I'm working if something will happen to my kids
  
• Worried about money to fix the house
  
• Worried if I will break down on the high way or worse an accident
  
• Worried if there will be an unpleasant attitude when I walk through the door.
• I worry about being sexually assaulted or mugged
• I worry about being broken into when I'm alone or asleep
• I always worry about the mistakes I made in the past. I worry they will come back to haunt me or that karma will come back to me.
• I was nervous about being not respected from my friends.
• I've been worrying about having a brain tumor, even though I had a CT scan done in January of this year, and in March I had an MRI w/wo contrast done, both were negative, but I don't believe them. The dr. who ordered them didn't even think I needed them, but ordered them for my peace of mind. Didn't work, and I don't have any symptoms of even having a brain tumor.
• I have social phobia. I worry about being around people and what they might think of me.
• I worry that people will think less of me if I look nervous.
• I'm' worried that my spouse will leave me if I stand up for myself.
• I'm worried that I won't get everything done at my work.
• I worry about saying no to my boss. He asks me to do too much.