I think we have a new tradition here on the blog. Every Wednesday, I pick out the weeks best posting or email and turn it into a podcast.

Now before you jam my in-box with emails for next week. I want to set the record straight.

If you want your email to be the one that is turned into the podcast, it would make my life easier if you posted on the blog.

That way everyone can see the posting and get involved in the conversation as well.

Here is today’s winning email.

“I have been listening to your podcasts and I wanted to bring up something that has hurt my dating life for years. I was raised by a overprotective mother and I was a chunky little girl as a child with very little fashion sense. I didn’t know how to talk back to people and defend myself and I was subsequently harrassed and bullied for much of my childhood up to high school. Safe to say that this took a huge toll on my self esteem and self image. Much of the problem today stems from the fact that the ones who teased me the most were the handsome jock types. While I find these men very attractive today I have the hardest time making eye contact with them. If I see a attractive man walking towards me it takes a extreme amount of will power and mental proding to look at them and attempt to smile. I know this is a defense mechanism from when I wanted to avoid the bullies attention when I was little but this has stuck with me today and it is extremely hard to stop doing it.

I am almost 27 now and in better physical shape than when I was 16, I figure skate and attend regular exercise classes but I still have a hard time thinking that I am attractive. I can still hear the bullies voices in my head sometimes and it is extremely difficult to overcome. I know I am much older and have a very thick skin because of my childhood but after awhile the behavior of looking away became so ingrained I don’t know if I will really ever get rid of it. I know body language is extremely important when trying to talk to someone you find attractive but aside from tripping and falling on the person I find attractive I am not sure how to break this habit and show that I want to talk to them. I am not sure I can manage to smile at them once let alone 3 times. Is there any advice you could give me to break this lifelong habit?

Erin, Cleveland, Ohio”

Are you ready for my answer?

Just listen in now below: