Ditch the clipless for now. I like mine, but if it's too much, you can add them back on later. My new Sirrus hybrid just has regular pedals since it goes so much faster than my Hardrock MTB and I'm not used to going really fast yet. I panicked on the way home and probably wore out the brakes today. LOL.

If you need to (I did) lower your seat so your feet can touch the ground and ride around for feeling safer. As you get better, raise your seat back up to where you should be. It will make sense why the seat is high after you get used to it. Falling off my bike is the most terrifying part of biking for me and I've done it once with the clipless. Knowing I could put my feet down on the ground helped my confidence.

Go someplace quiet with less traffic or just practice going around the block. I thought I'd get run over when I started, but most cars just go by without any issues..even the semi trucks. I do ride on the sidewalk in my small town because it isn't safe using the road until you get further up a few more blocks. I'm not brave enough to make a left turn and use the crosswalks. I don't live in a huge city so managing full-time traffic would be hard.

My Sirrus has funky brakes as well. My MTB will almost dump you over when using them and my Sirrus seems to take forever. I've thought about adding disc brakes to my Sirrus but not worried about it right now. I've only had it since Saturday and figure I'll get used to the brakes.

The important part is to have fun. You can do this!