Be Yourself (it's so much easier)

I’m sitting here wondering what my first blog should be about. I mean my first blog EVER. As I type, then delete, then type again, I start to whine. “Why is this such a struggle?” My mind is……blank. 

And then… a little light goes on in the back of my brain. Wait a minute, I think. I’ve always been kind of quiet, a little shy until I get to know someone. And I’ve always been that voice around the dinner table that no one seems to hear. I’m not kidding. I can literally be in the middle of a sentence or a story and someone else just starts talking about something completely different. I’ve spent a lot of time wondering why. Am I boring? insignificant? Am I like the low talker on Seinfeld? I still don’t know. For a long time, I tried different strategies to see what worked. I would get ready for a dinner with friends by reading about something interesting that I could use to spark a conversation. I would try talking LOUDER. I called people out when they interrupted me. I tried just letting it go, hoping someone might rescue me by saying, “Wait a minute. Sue was talking. Now what were you saying?” But here’s what I eventually decided. I’m not going to let other people’s bad behavior impact my confidence. Maybe I do tell weird stories. Maybe I am interested in things that most people aren’t interested in. But that’s okay. I don’t need other people’s attention. I don’t need someone to rescue me. I just need to be who I am. Eventually, I’ll find other people who love to talk about the things that I’m interested in. People who are absolutely riveted by my repartee (okay, maybe that’s a fantasy there). My message to you today then is to keep speaking up and for pete’s sake, be yourself. It’s so much easier:)