I'm A People Person?

            I wrote a week or so ago about the fact that our parish was without a secretary.  Well, that has been remedied.  We now have a new secretary, and I’m sure she’s going to do a fine job.

            While I didn’t mind doing the secretarial work that much, I am also very relieved that I don’t have to do it any more.  The biggest problem for me in having to be the secretary (office machines aside) was that it seemed like I could never get out of the office.  Between the secretarial work and my regular work, it seemed like I was stuck inside by myself all the time, rather than being able to get out and be with people.

            What that did for me was make me aware of a significant change in myself.  It was not that long ago that I was okay with spending significant amounts of time by myself.  Not only did I not dislike that, I really rather enjoyed it.  I looked forward to times when I could just be alone, whether it was to do work or to just relax.

            Now, I find that I don’t like that very much.  When I was spending time by myself, plugging away in the office, I started feeling really tired.  At first, I thought that was just because I wasn’t getting enough sleep.  Then I noticed that, whenever I spent a little time with someone else, I felt a lot better.  I was energized.  I was alert.  I was happier.

            What I realized was that I was drawing energy from the people I was with.  They were recharging my batteries.  I was getting fired up from being with them.  It was not anything in particular that anyone said or did that made this happen.  It was just the fact that I was interacting with other people.

            Unless you’ve known me for a long time, you may not realize what a huge change this is for me.  The main thing about it is that it’s going to make a significant difference in the way I look at myself.  I’ve always considered myself as somewhat of a loner.  Now, at age fifty-three, I suddenly discovered that I’m a people person.  That’s a pretty substantial change in my self-image.

            This is not a change that happened overnight, of course.  I’m sure it’s been happening for years.  It’s just that it was happening so gradually I never really noticed it before.  Now I have.

            If there’s a faith component to this, it’s that God never stops working on us, no matter what our age is.  If I can go from being a loner to being a people person at my age, what other changes might God have in store for me?  And what changes might God have in store for you?

            So I guess I’m people person now.  How about that?