I've Met Someone - And I'm Terrified

Yeah, you read that correctly.  I recently met someone.  She's intelligent, passionate about languages and culture, and attractive as hell.  I had a blast speaking with her about cultural experiences and could have talked for hours more.

I have zero expectations and I think we could become good friends.  The problem is, I can also see the potential for something more and it scares the living shit out of me.  I just got through this divorce and I'm not ready for anything else, but...

I find her intellect and her kindness incredibly appealing.  She hung on my every word with keen interest and it's been so long since someone outside of my family or work did that.

My emotions are a jumbled mess.  When she finds out about the PTSD, will she think me irretrievably broken? Do I have it in me to be a good friend?

I never thought that meeting someone who shares so many interests would trigger my PTSD, but there you have it.  The old PTSD fallbacks are pushing to the forefront.  All I want to do is withdraw into myself and avoid the uncertainty.  In my mind, it's also fear of 'inevitable alienation' that's twisting me up in knots.

The catastrophic thinking has me on my heels.  When she finds out I have PTSD, will she think, "I could be friends with this guy, but boy is he a mess.  Do I want to invite this drama into my life?"

This is what I was talking about in my previous post - I've grown in so many ways...but at times, I'm still crippled by low self-esteem, self-doubt, and fear hurting others and getting hurt in return.  So, this is apparently my latest struggle.  I don't want to spend my life alone.  I want to meet and be surrounded by friends who love and respect me.  I want to find someone who's committed to me for the long haul, someone who I can be committed to in return.

And I have no freaking clue how to take that first step.  

Don't get me wrong, I've found a great community at my temple that makes me feel included and respected, but this is something else.  After everything that I've been through, I'm not in any rush to jump into anything.  I just wish I knew how to take the first step without tripping over my own two feet.

I'm a single dad with an energetic almost five year-old. I have PTSD.  I'm a very busy entrepreneur and I have a non-profit to revitalize. I know I need to make time for myself and I can't put my life on hold but when am I supposed to find the time to relearn how to socialize?

If anyone has any ideas, I'm all ears.  I haven't been in the right frame of mind or situation to even think about this when the divorce was still in process.

Still, it feels good to be back and blogging and getting this all out.