Outgoing, bubbly, contagiously funny.
I met her online and we hit it off. I appreciated her personality more as we emailed back and forth and “liked” each other’s Facebook pages.
We had a lot in common, even more than I knew till we met.
Although a mutual friend warned me about my online friend’s standoffishness, I couldn’t wrap my head around it. Her high-spiritedness hyped every message. Months later, when we met face-to-face, I was caught by surprise. She was obviously an introvert.
“That’s me,” I thought.
Introverts like social networking sites, stars’ movies and their biographies, magazine articles that inspire, and curling up with a pet.
But people?
Of course we like you. We’re just not always sure how to interact, particularly when you come in groups. Or when you are extraordinarily outgoing. Or, if on that particular day, we’re extraordinarily “ingoing.”
A recent quote made me chuckle. It’s from a book about introverts involved in church volunteerism.
“I don’t hate people. They just make me tired.”
Amen.
Though not as guarded as my friend, I take a while to warm up in person. I need a lot of space and time for myself. And I figure I’ll always retreat more often than passing out party treats, and I’m okay with that.
Knowing and accepting ourselves, on and offline, deserves a Facebook thumbs-up “like.”
What does Myers Briggs personality test say about you? Introvert or extrovert? Are you okay with your results?
WRite wHere I’m supposed to be – There was a time I looked around a party and wondered why I couldn’t be like everyone else. What was wrong with me that I didn’t belong? That was, until I accepted I do belong, just to the half who are home, enjoying themselves in front of a fireplace while reading a self-help book.
On the side: Founder of The Introvert Entrepreneur Beth Buelow announced introversion is not a disorder, although it barely dodged the label.
Elizabeth Esther wrote about her not-so-easy-to-accept realization “I’m Not an Extrovert?”
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