Something happened today that got me asking myself, what's the appropriate way to help someone get rid of shyness?
Earlier today, I and two of my friends (I will call them Friend One and Friend Two) had gone to a shop to buy a door handle that Friend Two needed for his house.
When we got to the shop, friend one and I had stepped back and allowed friend two to do all the talking because it was his door that needed to get fixed, and we just assumed he knew exactly what he needed to buy.
But it soon turned out he didn't, because after about two hours of us getting the door handle, we all went our separate ways (friend one and I live in the same building, while friend two lives somewhere down the street). I had gotten a text from friend two, telling me that he had wasted money in purchasing the door handle because it turned out he didn't need it after all, because the previous door handle was still in good condition.
When he said this to me, I quickly told him that he could return the door handle he had bought and maybe buy something else from the store, seeing how that would be easier than asking them to give you back your money.
The moment I told him that, I could feel the hesitation in our chat, because I could see he had read the text, but he wasn't replying as fast as he was replying to the previous text messages. And then he confirmed my suspicion; he asked if I would be willing to go with him to the shop to make the return.
The moment he asked that question, I immediately could tell what the problem was, because this guy has been my very close friend for years now, and I know he can be shy in certain situations. But when he sent that text, I found myself thinking about the shyness situation and asking myself if this was the right time to maybe help him grow a bit.
I mean, it's no news that I used to be an extremely shy kid growing up, and the only way I was able to get rid of a lot of that shyness was by putting myself in uncomfortable situations and just finding a way to come out on top. It worked like magic for me, but I have no idea if it will work that same way for someone else.
So rather than test it out on friend two, I had asked friend one instead to escort him back to the shop because I had some work to do and couldn't leave it as it was time sensitive.
But yeah, I've been thinking about that situation since then, and now I'm curious to know if maybe there are other ways (other than mine) to help someone stop being shy.