Hey, Allison here and I want to share a little bit about my life growing up. We’re going to focus on how I was a shy kid and got out of it. Trust me even now as a twenty one year old I still have my moments, but its much better than before.
Most of us know shyness is usually a person that doesn’t speak up in class because of nerves or uncomfortableness. People who are shy can be insecure and have anxiety. They also tend to blush, feel shaky, sweaty, or even speechless when the spotlight hits them. Hi, that was me and still is sometimes. I was always the quiet kid in school never raising my hand to answer a question and hating when I got called on. Most of the time I felt like the outcast and that everyone else knew the answers to the problem but me. When I did get called on it seemed like everyone looked at me and my face heated up. It turned bright tomato red and I knew everyone could see it. It was embarrassing. I also hated reading out loud because what if I misread a word? If I knew I was next to read I was always reading the next part that would be mine to see if there were any words I did not know and try to pronounce in my head. Being shy also meant I struggle to ask for help. I did not like math at all! It didn’t come to me easily as it did for others so I made do without asking for help.
Shy kids don’t always have lots of friends at least in my experience that is true. I did make friends along the way but if there wasn’t anyone I knew in my classes the struggle for me was harder. Presentations were the worst! Public speaking is something I never liked doing hence why I never wanted to raise my hand in class. It meant everyone would hear my answer and if I was wrong then what? Then I would be embarrassed and feel stupid.
2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.
God does not want us to lack courage or confidence. He wants us to be proud to be who we are. If we say something incorrect then oh well we can study so we are better for next time. God never said you weren’t allowed to make mistakes. I know it will take some time if you are shy. It can not be fixed in one day. It took me years to make lots of progress. Pray about it and ask God to put you in situations that are out of your comfort zone. That is how I became more independent and extroverted.
Okay, now here is where I get into the part about becoming less shy and let me warn you it involves the sport ice hockey. Hanna knows I talk about this constantly and it is because God put it in my path to get me out of my comfort zone. I am passionate about hockey just like I am about God. God comes first as he always should!
Back in March 2019 I attended my first Federal Prospects Hockey League game or for short you can call it the FPHL. Some might call it the beer league and I will get to why later. In Winston Salem we have a team called the Carolina Thunderbirds. The name has been changed over the years but for the last six that name has stuck. It was cancer night and I had never watched a hockey game before at least not that I had recalled. It wasn’t much of an action kind of game like I had heard. The score was 1-1 and the third period was almost over. Well believe it or not right before my very eyes the puck went into the back of the net with one second left. Yes, ONE SECOND. Can you imagine the feeling in that arena? The cheers, the celebrating on the ice, and me jumping up and down? Yeah, well that happened and after it all I met four great players! Three who are still around the league today.
The hockey games did not stop there and my shyness didn’t either. I still struggled with it at school but hockey was making it better because I cheered for my team not caring what people thought around me. I even met a lot of new people. Before hockey, my weekends consisted of staying in, A LOT, and playing on my phone or watching movies/TV. Now that I have this great sport in my life I am at the arena almost every weekend and occasionally on a week night. I cheer for my team win or lose and I get the chance to talk to these hockey players. You can’t talk to an NHL player like Sebastian Aho from the Carolina Hurricanes after the game and have a beer with him aka why it’s called beer league hockey. You can drink with the players after almost any game, get pictures, autographs, and have meaningful conversations. They’re basically local celebrities to our city, but it’s more than that for me.
In 2022 my family and I joined the Thunderbirds booster club and it also helped with my shyness. We got the privilege to adopt a hockey player, get to know him, take him out to eat, etc. He gave me my first hockey stick and I cherish that thing! We even had a super bowl party with the guys and do all sorts of things for them. Not only did hockey bring out my extroverted side it helps me help others. If you don’t know hockey then you don’t know that these players in the FPHL hardly make any money. Some work jobs outside of hockey and it’s not easy when the medical bills pile up from getting a tooth knocked out or breaking a bone. There is lots of fighting in the FPHL which leads to injuries. As a booster club member we help where we can. This year is my families second year with the booster club. Before the 2023-2024 season even started we donated a queen sized mattress to one of the houses the guys live in and a full size futon for the coach. We didn’t buy it brand new it was used and they didn’t care. They appreciated what they could get and didn’t want brand new. (Literally the Captain of the team said don’t buy anything brand new.) My family and I also host a concert with our friends from Nashville. This time right before the season started after training camp we prepped food for the entire team! Now that is a lot of grown men to cook for! There were around perhaps twenty hockey players at my house in October 2023 and it was wild. It made me feel great though to know I was helping.
I never thought a sport would flip my life upside down but here I am with so many new people in my life I never would have met if it weren’t for hockey. These people not only share the love of hockey but also the love of Jesus. I’ve traveled away from my family to see this team play with people I barely knew. (Talk about getting out of your comfort zone!) It’s amazing how our God works each and every day. He puts you in places you’d never expect. I know we all have ups and downs but I am so thankful to have the life I have today even with the struggles. One of my favorite sayings is: Blessed and hockey obsessed.
I’m glad I started off shy in life so I could bloom later on. I’m not perfect (we all knows Jesus is the only perfect one.) I will probably never be 100% comfortable in some situations. What I do know is that Jesus is there for us during the struggles whether we see it or not. Jesus is proud of you and loves you even when you fail or think you have failed. Wherever you are on your journey right now know that God has got you. He has always been there and will never leave.