> In general, no one cares. No one cares if you're partially wrong, no one cares if you're a little off or awkward, no one beyond your family/SO and close friends gives a flying fuck about your emotions.
Took me awhile to figure this one out, but once I did, life was significantly better.
People do care about these things if you are a well-known public figure. I think the constant scrutinizing over the conduct of public figures misleads people into believing that their own actions are being scrutinized in the same way.
More accurately, people who don't like those well-known public figures care about those things. The fans and neutrals usually don't care and often even defend the awkwardness.
This is an important fact to realize for those of us with mood disorders, who see the world through the lens of our own emotions and moods, while others see our actions as unhealthy or erratic.
Following your suggestion, I would add that people should read "How to win friends & influence people" by Dale Carnegie.
The bottom line of the book is that people that want to get along fine with others should be wary of the other people's emotions. For instance, of the the first "principles" in the book is to not criticise, condemn or complain people openly, because people get defensive (an emotional reactional) when you do that, and you can't get nothing out of them. The rest of the chapters are also related with other people's emotions.
As for "genuinely cares", the book also talks about it in some chapters. What I could get out of it so far is that someone who listens with attention is mostly grasped as someone who genuinely cares about other people..
All in all, the bottom line of the book is all about "managing" the other people's emotional reactions..
Took me awhile to figure this one out, but once I did, life was significantly better.