If you are shy, you are not alone. In fact, I would go so far as to say, you are in very good company. I was tempted to seek out a list of famous people who describe themselves as shy, but famous people aren’t the only ones who make good company. Sometime you will be surprised to find out that people you wouldn’t suspect also experience shyness.
When I was about 8, a teacher talked to me about how she was very shy as a child and especially so through her teenage years. She left home to attend university and after completing one year towards a business degree, realized she had chosen that career path because it would be easiest. The problem was what she really wanted to do, was teach. But being a teacher would mean talking in front of others, not just the students, but other teachers and parents also. Obviously since she was my teacher at the time, you can guess that she followed her passion and became a teacher. She told me how she would slowly push herself to talk to others, and then speak out in class.
I remember that talk because it meant a lot to me because:
1. It showed me that shyness could be overcome.
2. It showed me that other people were shy.
3. It showed me that other people understood what it was like to be shy.
Before this, I would look around and it seemed to me that nobody else felt like I did, that I was all alone. So finding out that this wasn’t the case was simultaneously a huge relief and it gave me hope.
It is important to know that there are others who have been through the same things you have. Who have experienced the same thoughts and feelings, and who have lived to tell. The internet can be especially useful for this, for example; you can find blogs like this one, join message boards or read articles about shyness.
Even though it has been many years since I was 8, I am still surprised, at times, when I read or hear something that makes me think – that’s just like my shyness and once again I am reminded that there are a great number of people that experience shyness and that I am not alone.
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