Excuse #1: Shy

I’m shy.

I’ve always said that there are two types of people in this world.

1. People who think that if someone is staring at them, they are being hit on.
2. People who think that if someone is staring at them, there is something hanging out of their nose.

I am firmly in Camp 2.

Camp 2, the home of the shy, is normally a pretty okay place to live.  My shyness isn’t paralyzing – I can talk with people and even start conversations with strangers.  However, many of my interactions with people, even close friends, are done with the underlying assumption that whatever I ask is an imposition, or that people would really rather avoid dealing with me.  I avoid asking for favors, even for things that I know people would be happy to help me with.  I get very nervous about introducing people to each other, to the point where I will blank out my own mother’s name if I have to introduce her to someone.  But for the most part, those issues don’t affect me everyday.  I am quite deft at getting people to provide their own introductions, and I’m very self-reliant, so I don’t often need help with things.

But.

To say that my shyness doesn’t hold me back would be disingenuous.  Being shy about approaching people means that a lot of my life has to find me, rather than me reaching out and finding it.  Things function just fine as long as I can set myself up in situations where people will come to me.  Or, as at work, if I have a specific, externally-defined reason why I have to approach them I am fine.  It’s when I have to reach out all on my own, with no power-of-authority behind me, I really struggle.  What do I do to get past this shyness so I can be more active in achieving the things that I want?

I now have a project that I am passionate about, and that I really want to work on.  It’s this blog.  I love talking to people about their jobs, especially when they are passionate about their work.  So, this year, I am making it my goal to find a way to move past my shyness so I can finally work on the things that I am passionate about.

I hope you enjoy reading about my journey.