PRAISE TO SHYNESS

HEY KID, IF YOU WANT TO  SUCCEED IN LIFE, DONT BE SHY

One of the first things in, learnt when reading the Hebrew book of Wisdom called: PIRKEY AVOT, was : And it is not the shy who will learn.

It didn’t take much time to appreciate the value if this recommendation. As I looked around, analyzing the people I met, I did realize that the ones who felt at ease most of the time were the ones who were  never scared nor embarrassed to participate in a conversation or in an interaction.

So much so, that when I had my own kids, I recommended to them at a young age to always dare. When in class, if you do not understand what the teacher said, raise your hand and say : I did not understand, can you please repeat.

Imagine my joy when my son, at the age of 5 or 6 told me that he realized that the little girl sitting next to him did not understand what the teacher said but did nit raise her hand to ask. Well, he raised his hand to ask the teacher to repeat so the girl would understand.

How proud that made me! My son understood the lesson and put it into practice. These days, every time I come in contact with a young kid, I am tempted to nicely teach him this method.

He may or may not appreciate my involvement, but that has become my well to do participation to education.Indeed, we often here these days that education is not what it used to be, that the teachers are not as concerned to elevate their pupils interest in appreciating the good things in life, and thus saddens me. Why have we gotten there? What went wrong? I realize that this is another subject by itself that needs to be treated.

My suggestion becomes to look around us, see the way kids behave and if we believe that they are not right, well, maybe we should help correct the situation. I strongly believe that it is for the better of humanity. We are adults who went through so much and there is nothing wrong in sharing what we feel is right.

Could it be that shyness is a terrible flaw that masks all our qualities? I found this word in the work of Patrick Timsit, an actor, artist and filmmaker. Why live with such a flaw? I prefer Victor Hugo's words:
"The first symptom of true love in a young man is shyness." So that's a rather pleasant spin on a seemingly negative word.

A Spanish proverb claims that shyness is the prison of the heart. While for others, shyness in a man is a charming weakness.  Speaking of charm, I'm reminded of the words of André Maurois: "Keep the charm of a slight shyness without experiencing its terrors. Like Alain, I believe that it's action that cures this kind of mood we call impatience, shyness or fear. The fact remains that shyness, like laziness, holds us back in our duty. After all, isn't it a feeling of inferiority?

I could end with a Jewish proverb I didn't know: "Nothing prevents success more than shyness". At last, a kind word that would appeal to the shy among us. So let's all act with serenity and enjoy what nature has to offer.