Enjoying the Fourth
As the Fourth of July approaches, it has me reminiscing about the past Fourth of July celebrations, some fun and some not so fun. The correlation between the fun ones seems to always be associated with when I had someone or a community to celebrate with.
There was a time when I used to let my introverted nature dictate much of what I chose to do. For many years I was just happy to be sitting home in my pj’s, watching festivities on the TV instead of at a party, the lake or a celebratory event.
Moving to Olney and working at the newspaper has changed me in so many ways and almost all of them for the positive. The biggest change is learning to be more comfortable at crowded events.
I am still a proud card-carrying member of the introverted anonymous crowd but now I find that I can be both introverted and extroverted. The extroverted side is something I put on like a jacket, to be taken off at the earliest convenience. [Ha-ha] I don’t know if it’s a bad thing or not, but I found it has worked out nicely, picking the best of both introvert and extrovert. I can be just as happy hiding out in my house all weekend watching movies, working on photo editing or playing video games as I can going to a dinner party or other social event.
The thing I keep learning anew though is that human growth should never stop happening and I should always be pushing my boundaries no matter how uncomfortable it may be; good things happen when we allow growth in our lives.
By allowing myself to grow more extroverted I have made many new amazing friends here in Olney that I would never have met had I stuck to my old habits and fears.
Allowing myself to overcome some fears I have been able to do what I love for a living, which is photography. It has let me stand in front of crowds of people to take photos, I never thought I would be able to do that eight years ago.
What really began my change was trusting God’s plan for myself and just ignoring anything that has gotten in my way. When I came to Olney, I felt God convicting my heart to volunteer my free time to take community photos, it not only had been immensely rewarding to me seeing the joy it brings people on occasion but it allowed me to be there every now and then to offer a word of encouragement, spiritual and life advice.
God puts us in uncomfortable situations for reasons we may not know and it is up to us to allow growth to happen to meet those situations.
Are there fears you have faced or overcame? Are you still allowing growth in your life?
This is Will B saying, you’re not the only one in a crowd, nervous and ready to bolt. Just breathe and focus on the person next to you and you might soon find yourself enjoying the experience a little more.