To think driving and the anxiety I feel will never get easier?

[Gretasmyname]

Posted a thread recently about driving anxiety-newish driver v.
Little experience and not had a car very long.
Been trying to go out little and often
To build up confidence
Main issue is manoeveres
Been going out at quiet times.
Went out today to big supermarket car park. Did a bit of forward bay parking which I did okay. Rushed though, as even though car park empty I felt it was going to get busy any minute!

Drive around a bit but hated it the whole time. Now I've got back all I can do is think if it!!it's all like a whirl and I am trying to replay it all in my head
Nothing comes natural. It's like an ordeal!
Will this stress ever go?

Good plan OP.
And yes, there will come a time when it feels natural (if you drive enough). I’ve thousands of business miles under my belt so I don’t want to come across wrongly. But the more practice you do, the more situations you come across and deal with. I never used to like parking until one day I realised I always waited for others to park so why shouldn’t I have those few seconds while someone else waits. So for me, it helped thinking that I was just as important as everyone else when parking.
And if you need to, go for another refresher lesson but tell them exactly what you want to practice. And tell your DP you need help with your confidence and you want me to be your cheerleader even if you park in the hedge.

One of the things I've been doing OP is after I do the school run is parking on my road and hen fannying around reversing and turning the car to get it into the perfect spot. There's a lot of times I could have left it where it was and it would be ok. However, by doing these daft little manoeuvres and practicing with spatial awareness/how the car handles slowly etc and doing it in a non-pressure situation, I feel like I'm getting to know how the car feels and tightening up my observation as well. My neighbours must think I'm crackers but it's helped a lot.

cheese
That's why I definitely need to do. And I did actually do just that a couple of weeks ago in a Sunday when street was empty
I gave up after a bit though wben perhaps I should have persevered.as I wasn't holding anyone up or in the way

I suppose I sometimes quit before it goes horribly wring(in my head).
I really need a good feel for the car. As this is clearly an issue.
My neighbours too must totally think I'm crazy and probably wonder who the car actaully belongs to as I only randomly drive it!!!

Excise typos

Excuse*

I had about 6+ driving instructors and probably hundreds of lessons over a span of 2-3 years. I eventually met my husband when I was 25 and he absolutely pushed me screaming into learning how to drive. I HATED it. It took me 5 attempts to pass my driving test, I was just a bag of nerves. I was actually shocked and past myself when I did pass my test. I had my car around 1 year till I drove it on my own. After that I was actually okay just getting out there and doing it in my own. I’ll drive anywhere now it doesn’t even bother me now x

Greta it sounds like you're being too hard on yourself!

I fanny about on the road outside my house to get parked just right too - we don't have a drive but luckily have allocated spaces so I just move back and forth as needed until I'm straight enough for my liking. I refuse to park in my work car park though as the spaces are tight so I park 5 minutes away haha.

My next job to tackle is filling up on fuel! It's something I've NEVER had to do so DH is coming with me tonight just to keep me right. My spacial awareness is shocking so I worry about misjudging the distance to the pump.

It really is true - you don't learn to drive until after you've passed your test!

the more practice you do, the more situations you come across and deal with

This is absolutely it. I am so grateful to my instructor that she did things like take me to the petrol station to fill up whilst on a lesson, and other minor things like that. She asked me if there were any places I'd need to go to get familiar with - where the DC did clubs or swimming lessons or whatever. Of course we did all the usual test routes and manoeuvres and so on, but just having been to some of these places was helpful. She also told me that she often gave refresher lessons to older learners, or people who had bought a new car and were not 100% confident in taking it some places like a multistorey car park or whatever. That helped to normalise to me that it was OK that not everyone is confident all the time.

It's harder as an older learner - you are more aware of risks and dangers. But you'll be so proud of yourself when you do it. There's still things I hate. But I do know that avoiding them is the wrong call ultimately as you can't get better without practise.