When we think of someone being shy, we may think of a child who is hiding behind the
leg of her mother because she fears strangers. Shyness was once considered to be an
asset for little girls as well as women because it was associated with modesty. I can
remember my daughter hiding behind my leg when she was a little girl and thinking that
it was so cute. I never saw shyness as an impediment and, like many other adults, found
this type of behavior very "cute."
Shyness is not cute. To the contrary, it can cause you all sorts of problems in life. People
who are shy are usually unable to express their feelings and have a much more difficult
time when it comes to building relationships. My daughter, for example, found it
difficult to make friends as she got older and to talk to strangers at parties. While people
found her to be cute as a child as she hid behind my leg, they found her to be aloof and
unfriendly as she blossomed into adulthood.