Something I Need to Work On

Conversation.

Ha! If I left it at that, you'd think I wasn't even trying.

Seriously, though, I don't talk no good. Maybe it's less the conversation as it is my introversion. Then again, maybe I'm introverted because I fear my conversation skills stink. I've been like that for decades.

My wife's family had a Labor Day cookout this week. It's one of those things where you get together with people you really only see for a couple hours during holidays and/or long weekends. It seems like it would be a great time to catch up with people, right? Well, here's what I end up doing. I hang out with my wife. I talk with my wife's parents. I talk with my wife's siblings. And I play with my kids and my nephew. That's it. I'm essentially doing the exact same things I do with my in-laws every couple weeks.

Don't misunderstand me. I love hanging out with my wife's parents and siblings. They're great people and I love them dearly. I consider her family to be my family. But it's silly to limit myself. I'm being far too...insular (I'm not convinced I'm using that term correctly).

I don't expect to be best friends with my distant cousins but I can do better. I'm really only hurting myself by not engaging these near-strangers in conversation. And, by isolating myself, I fear I'm running the risk of looking like a snob. That's no good. To go further, I don't believe God has put me on earth (or in family cookouts) to be a wallflower. I really don't feel I'm representing Him by with my current inaction.

Anyway, Christmas and Thanksgiving are coming up so I'll have plenty of opportunity to talk with family I rarely see. Maybe I'll break the ice with a magic trick. On the plus side, if I mess up the conversation, I probably won't see them again until Memorial Day.