Comfort zones

When I tell people that I'm a rather shy individual, they pretty much all but laugh in my face...but the truth is call me shy, antisocial, or what have you...I'm definitely not the most socially outgoing person I know. Comfort zones are a funny thing, and lately I've been convicted about how I am needing to step outside of mine from time to time, especially when it comes to the social aspect of my life. I like to rock the excuse of how I've been working all day and am surrounded by people and would really just rather be with a few consistent people and hang out. This past Sunday though at our missionary fellowship I was reminded what a sweet and vital thing fellowship with peers really is. And now as my close circle of friends looks to be changing in the near future, I'm definitely realizing that I do need to branch out and expand my horizons. But it's one of those things that I definitely revert back to the me I was as a freshman in high school when I think of the perception others have of me and I know I just need to suck it up and take risks and put myself out there and just be a friend. I guess the moral of the story is I'm learning the real truth behind "if you want to have friends, you need to be a friend first" and that's a tough one for me sometimes.