Silly Fears

So often I find myself asking people to explain a statement they made, sometimes because I didn't understand but mostly so I can have more information on the topic at hand so I can formulate a suitable response. But sometimes I assume things instead of asking questions and I assume based on what I understood. But then I understood wrong and the other person gets confused. And what I hate most is feeling stupid. I have fears. (As we all do.) And one of mine is being undermined because of a stupid thing that I said. I do not want people to undermine my intelligence and mostly they don't but mostly I don't believe them when they say they won't. They say they won't think differently of you when you say something but sometimes that's not true and don't we all just want to make a good impression on people who are important or good or special to us? It is such fears that also keep us from getting closer to someone. It's nice to be able to tell someone everything and anything without any fear, without a belief that they will like you less or maybe even stop liking you all together. Intimacy is needed in life, whether it's with a friend, a partner or family. We all need something close to us, don't we?