This was bound to happen. I guess its all the more pronounced with my upcoming trip to Florida at the end of this month. I miss college.

Well, I don’t miss the stress of it all. I hated studying and attending class. Most of my classes felt mundane and left me unfulfilled. This has become even more apparent now that I’m in the ‘real world’.

What I do miss is all the people. I’ve mentioned before that I was highly active on campus. I enjoyed being involved in student organizations and working on projects that impacted the campus community. Although there were times of stress that resulted from my involvement, the sense of accomplishment from overcoming those challenges overshadowed any problems I encountered.

I also miss hanging out with my fraternity brothers. No, we weren’t the get wasted every day of the week type folk. We were a bunch of goof balls that just hung out. A group of the guys are getting together this weekend for golf and greasy food dining (yum!). Too bad I’m not in Florida this weekend =( .

I’m a sappy guy eh? haha. Man, I can’t wait for Labor Day weekend. Even more, I can’t wait till I finally return to Florida next year.

The people who know me outside the blogosphere would be surprised to know that I was once a very shy and timid kid. I was the quiet one, rarely speaking until spoken to. In school, I dreaded speaking in front of the class or raising my hand to answer questions. I never initiated conversation with strangers, or anyone for that matter.

For whatever reason, my shyness was rooted in a sense of fear. I was afraid of embarrassment and ridicule. Why? I don’t exactly know…

There was an advantage to being the quiet one. I spent a lot of time observing people (no, not in a creepy way); recognizing their unique characteristics and behavior. I was especially curious about the popular, more outgoing kids. How did they do it?

At some point during my middle school years, a disturbing truth was realized. If I continue my behavior as the quiet kid, I may be doomed to a life of mediocrity. This was to be a self fulfilling prophecy of which I was wholly responsible.

From what I could observe, all of the successful CEO’s and leaders of our world have a similar personality. They’re outgoing, professional, articulate, and more. These were traits that I did not possess as the quiet one. Throughout my youth, I dreamed of achieving fame and wealth… like many other kids.

Within my middle school world, I believed the popular kids were the ones that would become future leaders. I wanted to be like them. And so, I changed.

Overtime, I became much more talkative… able to create small talk with anyone willing. I became more comfortable when speaking in front of a group and was no longer afraid of embarrassment. I developed a self-deprecating sense of humor, which many people enjoyed =) . In sum, I changed. The introvert became an extrovert.

Kind of. I still consider myself a shy/quiet person. This is probably why I navigate toward the quiet people in a crowd. I understand them! I guess I’m more of an extroverted introvert… just pretending to be the outgoing type haha.

I wanted to share this story because it has had a profound impact on my life. I’m not saying that being shy and quiet is a bad thing. Rather, this was something I didn’t want for myself. By overcoming my personal fear of embarrassment, I developed a personal courage. Like some tiny voice in my head that told me to never quit… forcing me to overcome the obstacles that I placed in front of myself.

The point of this story is for you to realize that you are the master of your own fate. Often, we are our own worst enemies, creating a sense of fear that can dominate our lives… forcing us to wonder “what if?” When you overcome this obstacle, a window of amazing opportunity appears. Take life into your own hands and live it how you choose… happiness will follow =) .