disintigration said:
As far as dating is concerned, I guess im not giving myself a chance. I don't go out, at all. Now school is over for summer I spend all my time at home, or I go out with my parents or family. It's sad being this way in your mid twenties. If I do go out on my own, it's either for a solitary walk or a trip to the tennis courts.
My priority in life right now is my school work and building a future, but I have absolutely no life at all outside of this.
For the first twenty five years of my life, i was absolutely crippled by shyness. I literally could not speak to people i didn't know - my mouth would refuse to open, i'd be able to maybe mumble a response, all the while turning red as a beetroot - it was so bad i had to get friends to go to a counter at a shop to ask for stuff.
It left me isolated during school and university, with only a small group of friends. And absolutely no chance at a love life.
What got me out of it was getting a job at Woolworths, a sort of department store in the UK for the colonials among you, and my manager, a woman named Helen Bailey that i cannot thank enough.
She forced me to work with customers, forced me to push myself, even though i felt utterly uncomfortable to begin with. And it worked. Being given no choice but to talk to people helped me to gradually overcome my problem.
I went from being unable to ask for popcorn at a cinema, to giving presentations to a room full of people without flinching. Something i never, ever believed i could do.
My point i guess is this: You can overcome your shyness. It won't be easy, it won't be pleasant, but you can do it. You have to push yourself outside your comfort zone. Make yourself talk to someone you don't know, even if it's just asking for the time. Each time you do it you will find it easier. The worst thing you can do is give up and accept your shyness.
