People do need their space and time to themselves. Putting on the clay mask and sipping distressing tea while binge watching "How I met Your Mother," is how some people do their own "thang" without their friends and family hanging around them. It is important to harmonize with yourself, to meditate, or Zen out, and forget about your reality. However, there is a difference between doing your own "thang" and putting distance between others.

As I have found out in my own personal experience, putting distance between yourself and your close ones isn't always the answer. And it never is a good answer. It's painful, almost like throwing away your life jacket into the ocean that you are drowning in. Being stubborn, shouldering my own problems and not saying anything slowly ate away at me, and it eventually consumed me and I broke. My family and friends picked up the broken pieces and I was back in my life jacket. They listened to me, and even if i didnt get the answers I seeked at the time, it meant so much that someone listened.

Being direct and speaking up for yourself is a critical portion of our lives. Many people may know this but don't put the meaning into action. It can be difficult in the beginning. It can take time to cause a change within yourself and get the ball rolling right away, but once the first step is taken, you are on the right track.

Thinking too much of what other people think of you is not the wisest thing to do. Being this way actually puts you more into a corner, for me, I felt more like I would be a burden or an annoyance to others. The reality outside your mind is so much different that what you may think. Actions explain more than words; reaching out and asking for someone's time to just talk to them without thinking about what they will say, gives a less anxious expectation. Thinking of what people are thinking of you is totally different.

Have the courage to say some thing, stand up for yourself, create a change that puts you one step forward in your life, go talk to someone you trust, and tell them about your worries. Never face your fears alone, life is short enough as it is to go alone along the paths we take.