In the last month, I have had people say things after meeting me for the first time that sort of surprise me. In a good way. In a way that makes me think that all the trouble I’ve taken to try to be more engaged in life might actually be doing some good. The following terms have been used to describe me. None of these words, I don’t think, have ever been used to describe me before.
- gregarious
- outgoing
- charming
- extroverted
Gregarious? Outgoing? Anyone who knows me realizes that I can be very talkative once I get to know someone. The catch has always been that until I get to know them, I have historically been unable to talk at all. That has always made meeting people a challenge. What is different, I guess, is that lately I have been able to talk to strangers too.
Why?
Practice. Seriously. For two months, every Tuesday I went to the growler store and forced myself to talk to whoever sat next to me and to the servers. Easy, right? They were serving beer. I like to talk about beer! I talked to married men about their wives. I talked to an 75 year old man about his career as a pilot and current job driving a wine tasting party bus.
It was kind of hard, but fun. I suppose it was good for me. I was in training for the inevitable dating.
I suck at dating.
Or maybe I don’t–after all, I am not introverted/shy/awkward now. I am charming and gregarious.
Who knew?