I remember when I was younger, and I had anxiety that everyone was judging me -- that they were judging me by how I looked, how I smelled, how I talked, and whether I was smart or not.

Well, it took maturity for me to realize that no one is paying as much attention to you as you think. I couldn't have been more wrong about everyone judging me -- and if they did judge me, that would have been better than reality.

No one was actually thinking about me that much.

This isn't an indictment on human nature as much as it is the fundamental fact that we think of ourselves first. We're constantly overwhelmed by our work, obligations, and the people that are closest to us.

Frankly put, a lot of us don't have time to judge. And that's a good and bad thing, but it also goes to show that you're not as important as you think you are. You never are, and you never will be. You're not going to be at the center of someone's life because that person is the center of their lives.

I don't find the fact that people don't actually pay attention to you limiting. I find it liberating. It means that you can live the way you want and not how other people want you to live because the truth is that no one really gives a damn, and if they do, it means that they do care about you.

For example, I have parents that are pushing me to be a doctor. They ask me about my medical school applications every other day. I will be honest: I'm very reluctant to be a doctor and feel that my heart is in teaching, but the fact that they keep checking in and keep asking means that they care about me, and sometimes, a lot of times,

Do you want to know the honest truth? The world can move on without you. If you're locked away in your home, having a breakdown for several days, no one will know about it unless you reach out for help, save family and one or two close friends.

The world will move on without you. But that doesn't mean it should.

I teach middle schoolers who cry out for attention, almost all the time. They act out when they feel like they're not getting enough attention. They felt like they didn't get enough time to spend with their parents or siblings, so the least I can do as a teacher is to give them attention.

For one of my kids, we have a specific behavioral intervention plan, is to pay him no mind when he tries to gain attention. He might act out, scream, or become violent, but our plan is to not give him the attention he's craving, unless he crosses some unreachable line.

While it may seem cruel to neglect such a cry for help, and while I might personally have my misgivings with such a plan, the fact is that it works because it teaches a life lesson that no one is paying attention to you as much as you might think.

For some of us, the space and the boundaries are extremely valuable because we need to be left alone. When I suffered from social anxiety as a kid, I genuinely felt like all eyes were on me, like people were judging how I acted, talked, and whether I was breathing too heavily. The latter is something I thought about way too often.

If I knew that no one really cared, and that I was free to be my own person and live my own life. You, too, should realize that no one cares as much as you think to give yourself license to take risks, be yourself, and stop holding yourself back. When I realized that no one really cared, I started expressing myself a lot more -- in my writing, opinions, and in my role as a captain of my cross country team in high school.

No one is paying as much attention as you think -- so it's natural to have the inner voice that makes you doubt yourself, but you can move past it because you owe it to yourself.