What causes timidity – how can we overcome it?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
What about timidity as an impediment in spiritual life? It depends again on what happens because of the timidity. See, some people are by nature introvert and some people are inhibited. Introvert people, they gain strength when they are alone.
They can be with people and they can express themselves among people also. But if given a choice, they would prefer to be alone. That’s where they get strength.
And the other inhibited people, they are constantly fearful about what people will think about. And based on that, they just can’t express themselves. So that is their timidity.
So actually, we will stop worrying about what people think about us if we realize how little people think about us. Everybody has their own life. Even if we do a particular thing, people will think, why did you do that? They’ll think a little bit and they’ll forget it.
We can turn the same thing around and how much time do we spend thinking about other people? We have our own problems, we have our own challenges, we have our own dreams and we are busy with that. So usually, one of the best ways to overcome inhibition is to not care much about what people think about us. Now, everybody in their own life, in their own mind, there is a drama going on.
And in that drama, they are the heroes. And we are simply an extra. We are simply an extra in their drama.
You know, in a movie, how an extra acts, who cares actually? So like that, for most people, I’m not saying we should be insensitive, but I’m talking about if we are inhibited, we should worry so much about what other people think about us. So the best way to overcome timidity is to know that people really don’t have time much to think about us. They may pass some comment here, they may pass comment there.
But for most of them, they pass the comment and we hold it in our heart for 10 years. And they forget it 10 minutes after they have spoken it. So you know, it’s just no need to take people’s opinions so seriously.
So if we focus on this point that actually, Krishna has made me, Krishna has given me some intelligence, Krishna has given me some talents, and Krishna has made me so that I can make some contribution. Some people may be very eloquent and very charismatic, and they may make a big social contact. They may have a big profile.
I may not have that. But Krishna has made me. He has given me intelligence.
He has given me voice. I can speak. So if we see that, not as often we feel inhibited when we compare ourselves with others who are very, very expressive, who are very eloquent.
As compared to that person, I am no good, we feel. And that’s why we feel we become inhibited or timid. But, you know, there’s a great saint who said that, he said that, you know, an eagle can fly so high into the sky.
But that doesn’t mean other birds don’t have a right to fly. So other birds can fly according to their capacity. Peacock can walk with great elegance.
But that doesn’t mean other birds cannot walk. So like that, you know, we may not be able to speak and function the way some other people have functioned. But they don’t have to be our standard.
We are meant to be what we are meant to be. You know, if God had wanted you to be someone else, he would have made someone else. So he has made you, you.
He has made me, me. And what he wants is that you become the best you and I become the best me. He doesn’t want that you become me or me become you.
So, if you understand that, most of the times we become inhibited because we have been unfavorably compared with somebody else. So if our standard of comparison is that other person, whoever it may be, that person may no longer be in our life now. I mean, in childhood we are compared to some sibling who is better than us or whatever it is.
But that inhibition remains. So if we change our reference point from the world to Krishna, then most of our inhibitions can be overcome and we can become more expressive as we are meant to be. Thank you very much.