A Different Spin on Shyness and Procrastination.

 I am draw to the antithetical.  Thus, this quote from Oswald Chambers, gave me pause this morning: 

"Shyness is often unmitigated conceit, an unconscious over-estimate of your own worth; you are not prepared to speak until you have a proper audience." 

The same is true of "shyness in inaction," also known as procrastination.  People often say they procrastinate because they don't know what to do or what to say.  I say that's a load of crap.  Anyone with a brain (and last time I checked, that's everyone) has an initial thought about everything.  Often, we have to test-drive the idea against logic and our inner value system.  Once the idea has made it through those crucibles, we have to decide what to do with it.  

For people who procrastinate, the decision to self-sabotage is preferable to risk. In essence, procrastination, and if you subscribe to Oswald Chambers logic (which I often do), shyness, are at their core forms of self-centeredness.  I know that sounds harsh, but it's just calling it what it is without ascribing all the usual connotations associated with the word, self-centered. 

How are these two self-centered?  Logically, it seems the exact opposite. The short explanation is that the one who chooses to be shy, and who chooses to procrastinate, is denying the world an idea or message because s/he has decided that the message or idea (created and inspired for that particular moment in time) is not worth the risk to ego, is not worth the effort to say it, and is not worthy of the world's ears or consideration. 

So does it mean you're a bad person if you're shy or if you procrastinate? If that's all you see, and if that's your first reaction, then you missed my point. It's just a different perspective on a concept, and I just decided to not be shy or procrastinate about sharing it today.