I don’t classify myself as a shy person. I have friends and a boyfriend; sometimes people tell me I talk TOO much. Yet, I often find myself in situations where I feel like the odd one out.
Some days it feels impossible to go up and talk to someone. Coming up with something random to say to a random person can feel like an impossible feat. For some people, random conversation is as easy as snapping their fingers, but for others, being extroverted doesn’t come so naturally all the time.
The problem with this balance of outgoingness and shyness is that people like us often put ourselves in situations to be social, only to end up feeling embarrassed for standing by ourselves in the corner later. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that we don’t like to talk to people. We just want to feel like people want to talk to US, rather than feeling like we have to insert ourselves into someone else’s conversation. I’m sure the extroverts are thinking: no one cares that much. But here’s the thing: we do—we care that much.
We live in a generation of overthinkers and, trust me, we care a whole lot about things that don’t deserve a large amount of attention. Little occurrences such as not being added to a group chat or being ignored when trying to speak up are enough to make us want to crawl into a hole.
So where does that put people like me? We’re not introverts, but we’re not extroverts either. I honestly have no idea. All I can say is don’t be discouraged. Don’t torture yourself. There’s nothing wrong with having a smaller group of close friends or feeling uncomfortable sometimes. Continue to put yourself out there even when rejection is a possibility or even a regular occurrence, because, truly, no one cares as much as you do.