It's Ok To Be Quiet!

I have been labelled as shy and quiet for a lot of my life. For as long as I can remember I have always had someone commenting on how shy I am. To be honest I don't see it as a bad thing. I quite like being shy. I mean yeah there are times when I want to be less shy, less afraid to speak my own mind. But generally I don't really regret it.

I think a lot of the time people compare me to themselves. I'm shy by there standards and yeah I am shy I'm not denying that, but I'm never going to be a chatterbox. There are good about being shy and also misconceptions about shyness in general.

1. Shyness = lack of confidence

This is probably the biggest misconception in my life about being shy and it's something that people have been mistaking for years. Ever since I was really young and I would go along to parents evening at school people would mistake my shy and quite nature for a lack of confidence. Just because I wasn't shouting out all the answers in lessons and being as chatty as my peers, didn't mean I wasn't as confident as them in my own way.

2. Most of the time why I'm not speaking is because I have nothing to say

I don't talk when I don't need to, that seems to be my policy if I'm honest. I am dreadful at small talk, like honestly so bad. I don't really have to ability to start and sustain a conversation about something I'm not really fully committed to. I find it quite difficult to formulate what I'm going to say at that time. I'm also really bad at asking people questions which doesn't help. In short, in real life at least, I don't really speak unless I need or want to.

3. People take me seriously when I do speak

One of the upside to not talking that much is that, when I do, people generally listen to what I have to say. That coupled with my natural stubborn nature means that if I don't want to do something, I am confident enough to say, and people generally will respect that. Basically, I wasn't susceptible to peer pressure at school.

4. Good Observers

Due to the fact that I am not constantly participating in conversations, I would say I tend to be more observant. It's also a great excuse to be really nosy! I'm so nosy, I love nothing more than being able to listen in to other people's conversations. Because I'm not participating in my own conversation, I am able to fully concentrate on all the other often strange conversations that everyone else are having.

5. Good Listeners

Generally I find it a lot easier to listen than to talk and it means that generally i'm good at listening to other people talk. The best person for a shy person to know is someone who can talk so much without except too much back.

I am generally quite happy with being shy. At times it does get in the way somewhat, but it is also a great trait to have.

Thanks For Stopping By! :)