Hi all, I'm very new here, and I hope this is okay to post, and it's okay to post here as apposed to somewhere else.
I feel like most things I do are weirdly calculated. My facial expressions, my body language, the things i say, my actions. It really all relates to other people and making sure they perceive me the way I want them to. When I talk to someone, I'm thinking of everything, their facial expression, their words, their body language, and I make sure that mine reflects it, that I say the right things to get the correct response. I have to do the right things in that moment, whether to get them to like me or I guess just to get what I want in that moment.
And I know what to say most of the time. When I don't say the right thing, it's because I don't actually care in that moment about doing that. If I really want to, I feel like I can get a lot of things out of people just by acting and responding a certain way. I know how to use my traits to get what I want, and I know what I'm fully capable of.
I swing wildly between these things, doing this to make sure people like me, to make sure I don't upset them, and doing it to trick people into thinking I'm one way when I'm actually not. if I'm nice, act a certain way, I can get away with a lot if I'm smart about it.
I don't normally think about this, it's such a part of my daily life, but a little while ago I realized just how much of my day-to-day life is calculated, I even sometimes change the way I cough or sneeze to get a specific reaction from other people.
I don't know what to call this, it could just stem from trauma, it could be part of my BPD or OCD, I have no idea, I just want to know if this makes sense at all, or even if I'm not alone in it. It's something so ingrained in me I don't even realize its there most of the time. Sometimes I fly off into worrying I'm like actually some kind of awful person. I mean, logically I know some of this is morally wrong, and it's hard to make myself ACTUALLY care, like I KNOW I should care, but I dont. Thats a whole other issue I guess.
Again I hope this made sense, any feedback is appreciated. Thank you very much!