I have officially decided to try taking the final step...shmirus negiah...towards living a proper frum lifestyle
I am not from a frum family and it just never occurred to me to be shomer negiah...it is simply not something that people from my community do. But then again, neither is shabbos, kashrus, ,dovening, tznius, etc.
I know that for most frum people it is something that is taken for granted, but it has taken me a long time to reach this step. i have known for a while that i do not intend on doing anything inappropriate with any girls (as do some of my friends) before my wedding, i have just been scared to take the step of ending everything like hugs, handshakes, etc
I am still very nervous and not sure if I can succeed on my own, but I know I can do it with Hashem's help. I am also very nervous of what to tell my friends (secular, non-Jewish, frum-ish) who are girls. already today one of my good friends (female) who was visiting from Israel ran over to hug me and I didn't know what to do (I hadn't told anyone yet and there were people watching) so I told her I was sick and couldn't touch her.

any advice? I suspect that most people on this forum have been shomer negiah for their whole lives, but I'd love to hear advice both from people who grew up shomer negiah, as well as from people who did not

thank you so much
hashem should bless all of you to meet people who give you advice as well as you give me