Approaching a new woman every day for a month, Day 29:
This is probably the most unique approach that I've had. Didn't plan on something like this happening, but it looked like there was someone in need and with my newly found confidence I thought that I would have been able to help.
As some of you may know, I'm in law school and the studying process is extremely intense. I don't have lots of time for much anything besides eating, sleeping, training, my internship, and studying. I've been doing these approaches as creatively as I could in order to expand my horizon on where I'd be able to comfortably talk to women.
Anyway, I was studying in the hallway of one of my classes when I saw this petite, cute girl slowly slink out of her classroom, crying. I didn't want to be nosy, so I minded my own business for the time being. A few more minutes passed, and she was still crying. I still didn't want to pry, and I just figured that she broke down from stress that came with the usual rigors of law school. After another short while, she began lightly pounding on the wall to the side of the door. I could see her face.
It wasn't that of a person that was dealing with the shock and anxiety of the extreme stress that comes with being a new student at a competitive law school approaching what could very well be disastrous finals; it was that of a young woman dealing with a serious personal episode, a grimace that indicated a serious amount of actual pain that already had been inflicted upon her.
I couldn't leave this alone for long. I've dealt with having to deal with simultaneously working hard while quetly carrying stress and pain all at once and remembered how badly I wished that anyone, even a complete stranger, would come to my aid.
Deep down, I think that all of us have but we don't really talk about it much (hence the quiet part) so we always feel like we're alone when we're doing it. I didn't want this girl to feel like she was alone, so I decided to talk to her.
"Excuse me," I said. "I don't want to be nosy, but it looks like something's really bother you. Are you going to be all right?"
I made sure to look her square in her eye saying this to actively engage her and make it clear that I was sincere in my concern.
"Yeah, I just... The lecture in there..." She choked out.
"It's okay, just take your time. I'm not here to rush you or stress you out by asking for an answer," I said, as I gently put my left hand on her shoulder, rubbing gently, while putting my right hand to my chest.
I did that to give her a comforting gesture while simultaneously closing my own body off, to show I wasn't intending to be overly touchy-feel with her.
Apparently I didn't need to play it so safe. She leaned into me, wrapped her arms around me, underneath both my arms, buried her face into my chest, and began sobbing gently. I could feel her body shake as she spoke the words, "My dad died a week before school started and the case we were studying just now is about a little girl that lost her father. The professor began to start using phrases like, 'If the father were looking down on the daugther...' and I just couldn't stay inside the room anymore." Caught off guard by both her forward nature and the gravity of the situation that I had stepped into, I composed myself as best I could and slowly hugged her back, gently rubbing her back. She felt tiny. I couldn't think of anything to say besides, "It's going to be okay," and taking deep breaths, telling her to take deep breaths herself.
On a side note, if you're trying to calm anyone down from sobbing, particularly a child or something,
tell them to take deep breaths. It'll bring the muscular impulse that starts the sobbing under control.
She seemed to be getting a bit of comfort from our conversation. I told her in a deep, somber, authoritative tone, "It's okay, I've been through a situation very similar to this one myself. I don't want to make this about me, but what I want to tell you is that you can get through this, because as you can tell, I was able to get through it. If you need any help from me, either academic or personal, I want you to call me and let me know." She began rubbing her face into my chest to dry her tears on my shirt, pulled away, looked up at me, and smiled through her reddened and misty eyes to say, "I don't even know your name..."
I told her.
She stared at me in what seemed to be happy bewilderment for a moment, took a deep sigh of relief, smiled, and said she'd call if she needed anything, and that she probably would.
Here's what I've learned from this:
- Approaching women doesn't have to be a cold and calculated venture. Sometimes it can come from genuine interest or concern over how someone is really doing.
- Keeping an open heart manifests in your actions and women will pick up on that. They'll open up really quickly if you give off that vibe.
- Don't be afraid to help people for fear of being nosy or meddling. If they don't want help, they'll tell you, and if they tell you, you can just kinda smile and shrug and say, "All right, no problem."
- The more I've opened up to women, the more they've opened up to me.
On another note, I'm in my last day. I'll try to do that "same day closure" that we've all been looking for out of this.