First off, I just want to say thanks to this sub. It seems like there's a lot of shit to wade through on here, but going through some of the older posts I've been able to really build myself into someone I respect to a degree. I never thought that I'd come this far.

I started lurking around here about 5 or so months ago. I had to start from the ground up, turning myself into someone interesting and respectable from a socially awkward "nice guy" with zero confidence, for a lack of a better term. Friends, family, friends of family, kept making comments on how I was acting different in a positive way which really helped me mentally. I taught myself how to dress appropriately, got into better shape, read immensely about body language, tonality, presentation, etc... and tried to just focus on me. A phrase I read somewhere on here really struck me, it was along the lines of, "you must love yourself before you expect others to love you." So I adhered to that, completely stopped attempting to pursue women, and only thought of myself.

To cut to the chase, I had my first "date" which I wasn't aware it was a date until the night of. Girl from work who I found out from someone else that she had a crush on me, and I never really acted because I felt my self confidence just wasn't at that level yet. I figured i might as well fuck around with what I've learned here and see where that takes me. Met at 7PM, talked until midnight, light kino throughout the night, everything was going great and then I ENDED IT WITH A FUCKING HANDSHAKE out of habit. And by some fucking miracle she agreed to go on a second date, which she suggested before I could even get a word out. Well oops... I guess I did something right though.

I just feel like an idiot because I've read so damn much here, and it was constantly weighing in the back of my mind, but I literally just couldn't bring myself from 0-60 like that for a kiss that I should have experienced when I was a teenager. It was my first experience like this, and at least I wasn't an awkward wreck. I've now learned that at some point reading just isn't enough and I guess you have to get your feet wet, make a few mistakes, and learn from them.

Anyways, I'm nowhere near who I really want to be, but I'm getting closer each day.

TL;DR: I accidentally ended first date ever with a FUCKING HANDSHAKE, got second date somehow. Thanks guys.

EDIT, 4 DAYS LATER: Second date already. It's going okay.