It seems terrifying to try, of course, but in the broadest scheme of our lives the risk we are taking by saying hello does not deserve the terror we sometimes anxiously afford it.

We don't claim to be ideal, but nor is anyone else. Hence, dare to say hello without panicking at your shadow sides!

What we are terrified of is not just a "no", but everything that a "no" ends up symbolizing in our anxious minds. A definitely negative verdict on the hole of our characters, a confirmation that we don't, in essence, deserve to exist. It isn't a brush-off that's a stake. A rejection from another person threatens to confirm all our worst thoughts about ourselves. But the truth is, that if a refusal were to come, it would not be a plebiscite on our right to live. It won't be that they loathe us profoundly or are sickened by our very existence.

Rather, that they're perhaps are with somebody else or in need of some time by themselves after a harsh breakup. Or have physical tastes that run quite innocently in a different direction.

None of it needs to be taken as a profoundly personal rebuke. We should not let our tendencies to self-hatred blend in with the inevitable accidents and mismatches of any journey through the dating world.

There is often far more space in other's hearts than the surface may suggest. We can survive a no. We will soon enough be stone-cold dead and should use the idea of our own impending doom to make us less scared of the many petty challenges that stand in the way of our plans for happiness before it's all too late.

So go out there, and say hello to the person who catches your eye, you'll be glad you did! Happy New Year :)