Hi Anita,

Thanks for your advice Anita. I have been meditating and my inner bully is starting to fade away a bit. I have started to focus on the talents that I have and focusing my talents on the goals I have in life. The java class has gotten pretty fun lately and I am friends with some of the classmates, many of whom are laid-back. I think I am able to exempt the final for java and u.s. history ii because my grades are 94 and higher. For java, the final project and review brought my grade up. So I only have to study for ap calc midterms. Here are some questions:

How do I be more of myself and stop seeking approval from others?

How do I let people know that the characteristics they associate with me make the whole me, not just separate parts?
For example, some people see me as one way or another: either as a scientist or a spiritual person
Also, some others associate me with academics, others with athletics and tomboyishness

How do I react when someone says something about my flaws that I’m working on?
For example, I am getting better at math and enjoy it, but someone may say “You are a lazy person and you are terrible at math.”
I have a 91 average in math.

How do I comfort someone without being dragged down in their sorrow?

Also about the guy I like, Andrew is a great person. On Monday, my inner bully was raging a bit and he made me laugh, he even waited for me after class and cracked a few fun jokes to make me smile. Today, he sat next to me during ap biology and we helped each other on our math and science. During class, when we were put into separate groups, we happened to look up and smile at each other. Also Andrew was wearing my two favorite colors: green and blue. After ap biology, i wished him good luck on he midterms for ap calc. After school, I saw him and he invited me to go to an art club party with him and it was fun. While we were walking to the party, I was a bit nervous and I made a bit of small talk mostly about school work and life in general. When we both got to the party and stood together, I jumped a bit, but I smiled and he smiled back. There is a part of me that thinks I overreacted because he did see me jump and my voice get a bit higher when I’m nervous. Do you think I overreacted?

The question is How do I stay calm around him because there are times when I think he likes me and it makes me happy, but it also makes me a bit jumpy?