Were you shy as a child?

[Globalti]

Gawd, I was! Every social contact was agony and continued to be agony until I reached my teens. I didn't fully cast off my shyness until I got married, which was a bit too late. Nowadays I will happily waltz up to anybody, look them in the eye, greet them and start a conversation. I wish I'd had that confidence as a teenager and young adult; those years would have been a lot less agonised and lonely and I'd have had lots more fun....

Nowadays I have so much confidence that I end up having the most interesting conversations with complete strangers and learning all kinds of things. I even chat to immigration officers at foreign airports, the more surly they are the more of a challenge I see in making them look up and address me - the Africans are the easiest.

 

[tyred]

Oh yes. Always was. It's only now in my early thirties that I am beginning to snap out of it completely. If people didn't talk to me, I would never talk to anyone at all.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Oh yes. Very, very shy indeed. Also as I was predominantly brought up by my Mother I didn't learn to play sports and so was on outsider.

 

[Yellow Fang]

Yes, cripplingly shy as a child and teenager. I'm no extrovert now.

 

[gannet]

yes, still am to a certain extent, how I ever got the courage to get together and talk to mrs gannet still eludes me

 

[e-rider]

yes still am - why do you think I communicate via the internet!

 

[ColinJ]

Yes, cripplingly shy as a child and teenager. I'm no extrovert now.

Er, ditto!

 

[LosingFocus]

Extremely. And now too. Hence Im on an internet chat forum rather than joining my local cycle club...

 

[numbnuts]

I have always been a bit shy

 

[Aperitif]

Still am...sport and art did all my talking as a younger person.

 

[summerdays]

I was definitely shy as a child and a bit as an adult, but I've come out of my shell a bit in more recent years ... I still hate parties where I don't know the majority of people.

 

[cookiemonster]

I have to admit that I was never the shy and retiring type when I was younger, I was much more fiesty and hyperactive which used to drive my teachers and social workers up the wall.

I'm a bit quieter(ish) now but still on the fiesty side.

 

[Knockoffneil]

I was shy as a kid due to being bullied for being thin. Thankfully that stopped when i was in my mid teens and I came out of my shell a bit and started BMXin and skateboarding where the general concencus is nobody gives a F**K about anything. I still hate being the focus of attention though and dont usually go out of my way to start conversations with people which im hoping is a habit i can break. Im hoping cycling breaks this spell since when your on your bike everybody is looking at you, and probably wants to stab you.

 

[Headgardener]

Yes I was and still am at 51 which probably explains why I am still single. Yet I work in an envioroment which is mostly female and have no trouble chatting with them, but ask one of them, or others of my female friends, out . So I am likely to end up being Cliff Richards original bachelor boy.

 

[PBancroft]

Yep, and bullied because of it. Oddly, and controversially, in retrospect I think it helped. I'm still the quiet sort today but that said I have no qualms about approaching anyone, nor do I feel out of my element dealing with bosses or frontliners. I feel no shame in acting the fool (which I often do) and am just happy to be who I am.

Would much preferred to have got here without the bullying though. That was crap.