That is awesome you have been an ER nurse for 23 years! You said there is nothing that can "shake you" at work. That sounds very fearless and powerful to me! But I bet you didnt feel that way your first day on the job. I bet you felt nervous, unsure and maybe kind of scared. But you knew that you couldnt present that to your patients or else they would not trust you to care for them. So you had to act like you were a seasoned nurse that could handle it all.
How can you parlay that same formula to your personal life? You say you are not accustomed to how you are feeling now. Were you accustomed to all the craziness that is brought to the ER when you first started? Probably not! But eventually to you it became "old hat".
And I must disagree - confidence does not come from other relationships. It comes from the relationship you cultivate and nurture with yourself.
Lets say you were alone in the world. Did you ever see the movie with Tom Hanks where he is stuck on an island for years all alone? Sure, he freaked out for a while but eventually he taught himself how to survive with what was available to him. He made a "friend" out of a volleyball! Certainly you have more resources available to you than a volleyball, right?
