Hi there! Thanks for having me
I'll try to keep this plea for help short. First, however, a little background info on me:
I have a social phobia/anxiety disorder - or used to have, i'm effectively cured in most situations. Still have many problems with my self-worth though, and as a result i've never had a girlfriend i was really in love with, the reason being, that really caring about a girl makes me doubt myself to an exceptional degree, making me extremely shy/unassertive/doing "pleasing" behaviour/scared of rejection etc. etc.
Now - i'm currently dating a girl i've known (and been in love with) for 3 years. We only started dating a month ago though (before that we kissed/flirted a couple of times at parties but nothing more than that). I'm 24, she's 22.
During this month we've been dating, we've seen each other on 7 seperate occasions/dates. Most of those dates we've been chilling/talking for hours/making love, and on most of those occasions we've had great chemistry and had a good time together. For the first time in my life, i've actually been able to be at least somewhat comfortabe while being with a girl i'm in love with - so yay!
However... Now i'm starting to feel my "limitations" again. Strange thing: the more i feel that she likes me, the more worried and anxious i get! This sunday, she surprised me after work with sushi & a small gift, plus she had hidden 20 notes in my room telling me things she liked about me (incredibly sweet really). Clearly a sign that she's into me, which should make me more confident, but the opposite happens - i get more anxious! So much that when i saw her again yesterday, i was allmost completely unable to relax and i ended up having a really bad night where i just wasn't myself; lot's of awkwardness/no confidence/bad conversation.
Another thing is: i'm much better at being confident/myself when i'm alone with her. However, since we've had 7 dates of just chilling without doing something wicked, i'm starting to feel afraid she'll get bored; so i feel i should do something with her - but taking her out might just mean that i might lose my confidence, and i don't know how to tackle this at all!
Bottom line is: i very, very much want this girl, but i'm so afraid of being rejected (like i've been before) that i now find i might be sabotaging our relationship in my attempt to do the opposite. I realize that i could talk to her about it, but - if i just blurt out how much i'm into her and how much i want us to be together and how it just makes me so nervous around her, i just find it really hard to believe she wouldn't be scared away (also taking into consideration that she's told me before that she didn't want to rush into a relationship, and that she generally runs away when things move too fast).
I'm afraid that by being weak/having no confidence she'll eventually get bored/see me as "too easy" and too much of a nice guy, which might turn her off.
I'm seeing her again this tuesday. She seems like she really wants to see me, but i can't help but doubt her feelings. Also, i want to do something with her that'll be fun/exciting for us both so we don't just end up doing nothing again.
Any advice about how to handle this stuff is VERY much appreciated
Cheers.