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Challenging yourself I (30M) stutter. I have since I was 5 years old. I've never been okay with it. It's always been hard, frustrating. I've felt left out, incompetent, like life isn't worth living, and like I'm not worth loving. But lately I've been challenging myself. I've just come out of my first relationship - 5-years long, and I'm ready for some things to change. I'm ready to find a person that fits me better now. But I need to put some effort into myself first. I need to get more comfortable with introducing myself as I often stutter on my name, and I need to get more comfortable meeting new people and having conversations. I used to be better at this when I was dating, but I'm rather out of practice now. So, I decided to challenge myself. I've been introducing myself to the people at my local coffee shop, sometimes stuttering, but struggling through it anyway. I've asked one of them for her number - I didn't get it, but I asked, she graciously turned me down, and that's almost as good for me! I think the takeaway from this is that often stutters cause us to be reserved, and in-the-background, but it's important to start to realise that the people around you often DO care about you, your life, and about making connections with the people they see everyday. I think challenging myself is really healthy, and I think it makes me more confident with my stutter. I hope this can help someone else feel more important in the world :)