I used to surprise people when they would hear me speak. They were surprised because they had never heard my voice before. I heard the “Oh, you can actually talk?” comment over and over again throughout my life and I wanted to roll my eyes every time I heard someone say that to me. Yes, I can talk. I just don’t talk to you.

I guess I was just born to be a quiet person. Some people are born being extroverts and having outgoing personalities, but for some of us, we were born being shy and quiet souls who only talk to the select few that we feel comfortable with. There’s nothing wrong with being quiet and only talking when you feel like it. It’s okay to be quiet.

I realized I was a quiet one when I was in elementary school. As a lot of the other kids would talk all the time and raise their hands to ask questions, I didn’t do the same. I didn’t speak up and would only talk if I was called on or had a close friend sitting next to me. I was really nervous to talk in front of the class then and it has still followed me to today.

As a Junior in college, I have become more outspoken, I will say. But I am still the shy and quiet girl that I was back then. I am still asked why I am so shy and quiet and I can never give a definitive answer. I don’t know why I’m so quiet. I just am. I like to observe and listen more than talking, not because I don’t like to talk (who doesn’t like to talk?), but because I would rather hear from other people’s voices than my own.

So I am a people person per se. I love to get to know new people and find interesting things about them, but I can do that without talking. I don’t need to talk a lot to someone in order to get to know them and establish a connection. I don’t have to speak through words, I can speak through actions.

You know the saying, “Actions speak louder than words?” That is so true! Sometimes there is no other way to say something than by your actions. You don’t always have to talk. It’s okay if you don’t talk all of the time and it’s okay if you don’t like talking to most people.

I used to get insecure at times for how quiet I am, especially around a university campus where there are so many outgoing people. But I have come to realize that I am who I am and I cannot change everything about myself.

I like being quiet. Yeah, sometimes I wish I wasn’t so shy and awkward, especially when meeting new faces, but I like that I am a quiet person. I just sit back in my own world and watch life go by.

When you’re a quiet one, you find that there may not be as many problems in your life when you step back and watch rather than putting yourself right in the middle and talking about every damn thing there is to talk about.

Honestly, some people should take some notes from us because they can talk way too much. There is a thing as talking too much and it gets on my nerves. Not everything in the world has to be talked about.

Sometimes I just want to have a deep conversation and sometimes I just want to sit there in silence and enjoy the time I have with someone. Silence isn’t always a bad thing.

If you’re a shy and quiet one with some awkwardness deep down, don’t feel bad for being that way. We are all born the way we were supposed to be and it’s okay to be different and not like other people. If everyone in the world was outgoing, there wouldn’t be any silence.

There wouldn’t be any way to relax and relinquish in a calm atmosphere if everyone was talking all the time. Just like there wouldn’t be any communication or way to make society work if people were always silent.

This is a two-way street and it’s okay to only be on one side of it. You may wish that you could be an extrovert and go up to someone and start a random conversation, but if you were to become one, you would probably wish that you could go back to how you were before.

So be proud of being quiet. Be proud of being who you are. You don’t have to change or act like someone else to fit in with society. You were not meant to be like other people and that’s okay. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you shouldn’t be quiet.

You’re you for a reason and not everyone will understand that, but you will, and that’s all that matters.