Navel Gazing. Again.

Sometimes I believe that life has become a succession of things I can't have. More specifically, a succession of people I can't "have." I've begun to grow weary of the unending tide of people I crush on -- who too often seem to be exactly the kind of people who want nothing to do with me. All my old self-defense mechanisms pop up; the ones I find it so hard to get past. The inaction to avoid failure -- that kinda thing.

Part of the problem of being weary of yourself is that, while it's all well and good to be tired of self-destructive behavior (okay -- that's a little inflammatory; how about "self-limiting?"), it's quite another to be able to change it.

Where do you start with that, anyway? I mean, when you know that the reason you won't approach someone is 'cuz you're afraid of crashing and burning, what's the first step to overcoming it? How does one master one's fear?