Being Shy

@ shelbyvengeance
I'm totally the same. I'm great with my friends (although I do have trouble talking to them sometimes, too... I get an anxious sort of feeling, like they'll judge me if I talk about a certain subject), but when it comes to strangers or people that I'm not close with at all, I can't do it. I can't ever find it within myself to speak to them, and it's so frustrating. The only way to make it a little better is if I have a friend who's with me and talking to the stranger as well.

It's just so incredibly lonely. I think what I go through is past being just shy, you know? I'm sure shy people don't feel the same as I do. They probably don't cry themselves to sleep at night when it gets to be too much.

@ soft skeletons.
I can't even talk on the phone anymore. I used to talk on the phone when I was a kid, now I only answer it if I have to or it's my mom. Otherwise I won't. I also dislike the people who try to start random conversations at stores and stuff. It makes me even more awkward. I feel like I even annoy me own friends. (especially the guy I like) I think what happened to me is when I stopped socializing. I pretty much cut myself off from the world, and that didn't really help me none at all.

@ shelbyvengeance
I barely talk on the phone. I only do if it's my mom, and that's about it. Normally if someone calls me I'm too busy to answer it right away or I don't have the desire to answer it, but it's never really important anyways.

I can handle conversations with the cashier, but that's about it, and even then, I'm too worried over what I'm buying to get too immersed in the talk. Now that I'm out of school though, I've definitely stopped socializing with everyone aside from one or two friends and my parents.

@ soft skeletons.
I also hate talking in front of people. I'm 99% sure I turn red in the face. At least it feels like my face heats up. I can do so, but really hate it and will speak fast.

I'm usually thankful when I go somewhere with someone because then they talk to them and not me. Sometimes if I see people I went to school with and they talk to me, I can do so. (plus I don't wanna be rude and ignore them.) I seem to be able to talk to people better in person than to message them on FB/text them. I just realized that lol

@ shelbyvengeance
My face gets hot too! And I get super aware of my surroundings... and then I start to doubt myself and all of that stuff.

I hardly see people from school, so I'm thankful for that

I'm extremely shy. I mean I can say hello to a complete stranger but I can't really carry on a conversation without looking like a frightened rabbit but if I get to know someone and warm up them, I come out of my shy shell and become this annoying chatterbox.

@ soft skeletons.
same but then again I avoid the town I went to school in. If I do see someone it's usually at Wal-Mart since that's pretty much the only store we have around here other than some smaller ones.

I would say I am shy when I want to be. For the most part, it all depends on your vibe. If you come off as aggressive and assertive I'm going to most definitely be shy, unless I view you as a threat to something, then I'm going to be just as aggressive and assertive back. I'm generally only shy when it comes to people I am actually interested in. I get shy when I try to talk to people I actually want in my life.

hello, i'm kinda new here =/ i've been shy all my life for alot of reasons. i grew up unknowingly with dyslexia (i only found out this year) and picked on alot because people thought i was stupid and slow, my voice is weird and i'm not the prettiest girl in the world. so i went inwards and didn't put myself out there. i never really went up to a person and asked ¨hey can we be friends?¨ i did end up with friends in high school/college but not alot and even then i was quite. now at the age of 21, i still can't talk openly with most people though i do try to. its like i know what i wanna say in my head but i can't get the words out. i just freeze and feel like i'm gonna be sick. i hate feeling like this. is as though the only way i can talk openly is online

I've been super shy all my life, really, and it got especially worse once I was pulled out of school and homeschooled from 6th grade to 12th. However, I'm slowly overcoming it. I'm still quiet and awkward around people I don't know, but I warm up and start opening up quicker than I used to. I'm proud of myself for that one because at one point, my shyness was so bad that I panicked when I was spoken to and I wouldn't leave my Mom or Dad's side at the grocery store. I'm especially proud of myself for approaching the guy working behind the counter at the bowling center to ask for my quarters back without freaking out internally and begging my Dad to do it.

I still don't like talking on the phone, though.

I've never really been shy, but I've been quiet. From when I was about 10-13 I was very insecure and people weren't very nice to me at school so I became extremely quiet to the point where most of the time people couldn't hear what I was saying. I've never had a problem opening up to people, just at times a crippling social anxiety which makes me really nervous. In school/classroom settings my anxiety is at an all time high and I'm very quiet. But when my social anxiety isn't acting up or I'm friends with you, I will probably talk your ear off. I feel like I talk way too much but whenever I say that everyone kind of asserts that's it's not true, so maybe it's just in comparison to how little I used to talk. I don't know what happened, but it seems like once I got a sense of self worth I started talking like 10x more. Also, it's strange because I feel like I talk pretty loudly most of the time now but everyone tells me I'm still pretty quiet.

I think I'm initially shy with strangers; cautious, reserved. I don't feel like I have any close friends any more because life got in the way, which sucks, but when I did have a few close friends (who were also shy at first too) we'd end up literally crying and rolling on the floor with laughter at the silliest of things. I miss those carefree, humorous days.

Despite being able to unwind when it comes to family and close friends, I have never been able to feel comfortable in the presence of strangers or other, non-immediate, family. I can't seem to stop feeling anxious when I see my grandma and I hate feeling this way.
I'm very wary of strangers, and feel very uncomfortable if there are more people in an area than I can monitor. I think I have some kind of anxiety disorder; social and/or general, so I guess it goes further than shyness in this respect. I've missed out on countless opportunities to go out and do things (party, join a club, visit somewhere) just because I was too scared/had a bad feeling about it. I vividly remember my mum getting angry at me when I was younger for not wanting to go places. "Why not? You've got to stop being shy because otherwise you'll never do anything in life and you'll only regret it when you're older."
Her words were harsh but true, yet they didn't stop me from being where I am today. So this is why I think it's more than shyness - if it weren't, what mum said should have encouraged me to change. I want to change now, but I still feel too scared, and now even too late.

If I had given my hand at various activities at a ripe, young age, then perhaps I would have found one or several solid interests. Maybe I could have taken to acting, or playing the piano...but that all feels too late now, and I still feel anxious about even picking up the phone or encountering a person on a dog walk.

I'm so shy it hurts. I barely talk to people at school, I only have a few select people in my classes I "talk" to, but even then it's only about school-related subjects.
Outside of the stranger / acquaintance setting, I'm still a very quiet / reserved person. I don't have much to say to people, but when I do they know about it. My boyfriend used to think it was odd when I let silence hang between us, but he's used to it now. My family are also used to me having little input in a conversation.

The only times it changes is at events where I'm expected to be outgoing (like Relay for Life - god I'm so loud and upbeat it scares me) and if I take on the traits of a loud person. I accidentally fall into mimicking other people's speech patterns and conversational input, so if you're a loud person who talks a lot, I'll talk a lot. If you're on the quieter side, there'll be zero conversation between us.