Speak Up Don't Be shy!

Toree Brooks
October 6, 2010
English 1A, Ms. Lennon
Speak Up, Don’t Be Shy
    Without a doubt, everyone has a few moments in life that they wish they could take back or have personal flaws that they desperately desire to change. When I reflect on myself, however, I realize that I have traits that I find highly annoying and it motivates me to alter a piece of who I am for the betterment of how others perceive me. One of the traits that I wish I could change about myself is my shyness because it hinders my jolly personality and people view me as a person who is insecure.
    When I’m around my friends or family in a public area, I can be really sociable and friendly because I’m with people that know me quite well and I’m not at all concerned about what they think of me. They know me inside and out like a rehearsed script. On the other hand, my personality can shift into an introverted mode when I’m fairly introduced to another person or a large group of people. I become concerned with making a good first impression and focus on not being nervous whenever I talk. For instance, I had a bad reputation for shifting my eyes when I spoke to another person or stayed quiet during group conversations to prevent myself from saying something stupid.  When I did this, people who didn’t know me labeled me as a person who rather be to themselves or doesn’t like to gain a lot of attention from others. I consider this to be a habit that I acquired from being too dependent on how other people viewed me. If I don’t get people to enjoy conversing with me during our initial encounter, I tend to stay bashful for a while until I get to know you on a personal level.
    At times, being shy can put me at a huge disadvantage because I miss out on huge opportunities. I am always the first one to think lowly of my ability to do just as well as others or even better. People tell me that I don’t give myself enough credit and ask me why I rarely speak up.  I believe that I’m not shy all the time, but sometimes I give people a nervous vibe when they are around me and often think I need a confidence boost. This happens a lot when I’m working with new people on a group project and when I want to elaborate on my ideas, I usually don’t unless I’m asked to do so. By doing this, I gave up my right to speak because I was nervous about what others would say. I didn’t believe I had that right because that’s what I believed I was.  My shyness affects my confidence level in the social life and holds me back from interacting with others. Nobody gets to see my beautiful personality when I withdraw from meeting others and unfortunately, I get pushed along with the crowd.
    Having an extremely joyful personality behind the dark shades of my shy nature can be quite confusing especially with people that know me, but don’t know me fully. While I consider my shyness as a curse and very embarrassing, I’m in a process of overcoming my anxiety. I realized that being shy can be a major setback, so I continue to conversate with someone new and keep my head up high. If you learn to think and express myself to others with confidence, then shyness will not be a recurring problem in your future.