“Shy” was a description. Don’t let it turn into a cage with your name on the door.

A word someone used once to describe how you were behaving can quietly harden into an explanation of who you are. The description was accurate about a moment. Trouble starts when you begin consulting it before you act, deciding in advance what someone like you would not do. At that point it has stopped describing you and started deciding for you.

Notice the next time you skip something and the reason arrives as a label rather than a preference. Ask whether you genuinely do not want to, or whether you are being consistent with an old adjective. Then try it once and see.