Quotation Tuesday 18!
I'm back with another Quotation Tuesday after a nice long holiday weekend. How did you celebrate? I took hike in Griffith park and slid down a cliff on my backside, accidentally. Good times.
Anyway, this week I chose a quote from a former first lady,
"The way you overcome shyness is to become so wrapped up in something that you forget to be afraid." -Lady Bird Johnson
I spent most of my elementary school and high school years being seriously shy. I dreaded anything that meant people looking at me: show and tell, having the ball passed to me in gym class, giving speeches.
I turned beet red every time the teacher called on me. I earned various nicknames having to do with the fact that I turned red so easily. Once, after a group presentation, a teacher told me that I was so red -- purple almost -- that if I hadn't been talking, she would have thought I was choking.
It was bad.
And why was it that these experiences, which could have been fun or at least painless, were so traumatic for me? Shyness is really just a combination of fear and self-centered-ness. Shyness could only creep in when I saw a situation as if it was revolving around me -- wondering what people thought of me, whether people were looking at me, and how I looked.
But in reality, all the people around me were mostly thinking of themselves, and their own problems. Understanding humanity's tendency towards self-absorbtion can be such a relief to a shy person.
But then there's still the fear part of shyness. Fear of failing publicly. Being judged. Disappointing people.
What if all of those things happen? What if you fail AND disappoint AND are judged? Well... whoopdie doo.
It can takes years and years to reach to that realization. The Whoopdie Doo Realization. But once you get there, the world opens up for you.
-Brigitte
Do you have a comment? We'd love to hear what you think!
Do you have a question that we haven’t answered yet in About SAM-e? If so, please Ask Us a Question.
Comment Policy
We value your comment. Please see our comment policy for more details on our guidelines for commenting.
Comments
romeo Tuesday, June 01, 2010
Shyness is nice and
Shyness can stop you
From doing all the things in life
You'd like to
So, if there's something you'd like to try
If there's something you'd like to try
Ask me I wont say no, how could I?
~the smiths
osumarko Tuesday, June 01, 2010
From shyness to a video blogger, that is quite an impressive turnaround.
Good blog, shyness is one of my challenges in life. Thanks for the advice.
christine Wednesday, June 02, 2010
Yeah, also pretty surprised to hear about your shyness. Went/and go through sometimes still, the same thing. Thanks for sharing the quote.