"I never feel at ease, whether it's on the job or at a family reunion. I'm always anxiety-ridden and worried that someone is looking at me, and I don't measure up. Whenever I have to make a team report at work, I get a lump in my throat and my mouth gets dry. Whenever I'm in a social setting, I feel self-conscious and insecure."

Ever felt that way? Do you know someone who does? Millions and millions of good-hearted people are in the grip of social insecurity. While it may not paralyze their relationships, it certainly suffocates their efforts. They may want to join a conversation but withdraw out of fear. Or, conversely, they may boldly enter in and then wish they hadn't. Their social insecurity makes relating to others often nerve-racking and sometimes painful. 

Why do so many people suffer socially? Those in the know point to several predictable pitfalls. So before we delve into the ins and outs of becoming more socially competent, let's take a look at each of these pitfalls.

Pitfall #1:  Comparing ourselves to others

"Loneliness and the feeling of being uncared for and unwanted are the greatest poverty."  — Mother Teresa

"There is something not entirely displeasing in the misfortune of our close friends." The seventeenth-century French essayist who wrote these words must certainly have suffered from social insecurity. All decent human beings feel sorry when something bad happens to someone we care for, but for the insecure, another's misfortune is a means of feeling better about themselves.

What insecure people do not realize is that their very compulsion to measure their status against others is what is feeding their insecurity. With each comparison they diminish their potential to become intrinsically stronger and more stable on their own.

Now let's be honest: Everyone, no matter how healthy, occasionally pulls out the proverbial yardstick to compare their performance and their achievements to others'. It's only natural. But people entrenched in social insecurity are forever comparing themselves. It is their main means to feeling worthwhile—and that's why they rarely do. 

Social comparison inevitable leads to feelings of bitterness. There will always be someone who has more than you, makes more than you, does better than you, and feels better than you. Always. Still, some choose to torture themselves by comparing themselves to others, and the result is hollow vanity at best but most likely feelings of inferiority.

Pitfall #2:  Shyness

"You're blessed when you're content with just who you are - no more, no less." — Matthew 5:5, The Message

It is a nearly universal human trait. Most everyone has bouts of shyness and half of all people describe themselves as shy. Perhaps because it is so widespread and it conveys a sense of vulnerability, shyness can be viewed as endearing. Princess Diana, for example, garnered countless admirers with her "Shy Di" manner. There is nothing inherently wrong with shyness—not until a person feels imprisoned by it. Once shyness engenders excessive self-consciousness, to the point of preventing connections, it crosses a dangerous line.