All my life, up until age 18, I was the quiet one. I was a little shy, but very introverted. I enjoyed having friends, but wasn't very talkative or outgoing. It wasn't depression or anything, I was very happy- I just wasn't a person who spoke up, and was never the "center of attention", except my occasional outlet on the high school tv news. If I had to do that in front of more people than just the TV crew, I couldn't have done it, i'd have died. Just getting up on stage in front of my drama class, who were all great friends, for a small joke lip-sync performance thing, nearly made me pass out and I felt crippling nausea the whole time.
Then, I met this girl who asked me out. She was my first girlfriend ever, and I was just turning 18 (literally). After 4 months of hell, I finally realized that what I was going through was not what relationships were. She was very emotionally and verbally abusive to me, and took advantage of my kindness and walked all over me.
Suddenly, I snapped. You know when someone says that someone went crazy, literally, and just snapped? That's how I mean it- in my head, anyway. I suddenly realized that my more quiet personality and introversion caused all the hell I'd just been through. I decided that I was never again going to let my introversion make me take whatever comes along, I was never going to "settle" for whoever came to me- because that's exactly what happened. I was so shy and introverted, that I immediately took to her simply because she said she wanted to go out with me.
I said "fuck this" and was instantly transformed a full 180 degrees to the outgoing, extroverted, make friends with anyone, stand up and speak in front of people, afraid of nothing person that I am. It's not that my personality changed, it was just suddenly given a voice, and energy.
And when I say "instant", here's how it happened- I was laying in bed after just waking up from a night's sleep. I had my epiphany, drove to school, broke up with her, and immediately lived my life the way I am today. It freaked everyone out. Everyone I knew thought that she'd literally driven me insane. I was the complete opposite of my former self in what seemed to others as "overnight".
I also took that day to thank various friends who had supported me while she was being shitty to me- most especially those very few closest to me who had the courage to tell me what she was doing to me, no matter how much I denied it. I thanked them for sticking by me and helping me, rather than leaving me when I refused their help, because I was not thinking correctly.
So for those of you who know me personally, can you even imagine me as a guy who keeps to himself, doesn't talk to people he doesn't know, doesn't ever make himself the center of attention, and is generally introverted? The idea of it will probably just make you laugh as though it were an impossible scenario.
Sorry this was so long, but it literally redefined me as a person- suddenly, permanently, and completely opposite. (My mom still jokes on occasion about "what a nice quiet kid" I used to be. lol)