Reply To: Not-So-Independent Girl

I agree with @peggy that the way to be more independent and grow your confidence is to just… push yourself to do more things outside of your comfort zone. Like, can you commit to going to softball by yourself just once? Tell yourself you only need to do it once and if you hate the experience, you never have to go again. Or maybe you can pick a different activity to start with — something where you can give yourself a time limit to duck out if you’re not having fun. When I was new in my city and barely knew anyone, that’s what I did — I said yes to every invite that came my way and told myself I’d go for an hour during which I’d give being outgoing my all. If after an hour I knew it just wasn’t the place for me, I could go home. I grew immensely as a person being by myself in a city and having to force myself to put myself out there and exist outside of my comfort zone.

I’m assuming you’re in high school since your parents seem to still have so much involvement in your life and second Peggy’s suggestion to reach out to your school counselor.