I’ve been an introvert all of my life. I was born that way—or at least I’ve been this way as far as my memory carries me. As a child, I remember at social gatherings people asking me if there was something wrong with me. Because to some people it’s “wrong” to not be talkative. I had to force myself to engage others all through high school. And, I wasn’t a recluse. I was elected student body president of my high school. I was just quieter than some people.
And, if you’re really an introvert. I just said some things you understand.
The major problem with introversion, which, by the way, is not a disease—and not a problem—is the misunderstanding of it. People act like it’s a personality flaw. But, it’s not.
Introversion is a preference in how we respond to life. Nothing more. It’s a wiring. But, there’s no flaw in the wiring.
So, I’ve attempted to change the misunderstanding to understanding. Helping you understand introverts.
That’s the point of this post.
Here are nine things you may not know about introverts:
We can be very social. You should see me on Sunday. We can even be the life of the party if we choose to be. I have entertained rooms before—as an introvert.
We have humor. We may even be very funny. You may have to “wait for it”—and pay careful attention. We usually have time to think about it before we project our humor on the world, so it might be a dry wit. And, when we let you see our humor—be prepared to laugh. Laugh hard.
We love people. Seriously. We do. Deeply. Just because you may talk more than us doesn’t mean we don’t love as much as you do. Introverts are often very loyal to the ones we love. Just like extroverts may be.
We are unique. We are unique from other introverts. We aren’t all alike. And, we are somewhat offended with a stereotype. (Just as any other stereotyped person is.) Introverts have a realm of introversion. Some appear more extroverted than others. Some more introverted.
We aren’t afraid of people. We usually don’t need you to speak on our behalf to remove our fears. Fear is not the reason we are introverted. It’s a personality.
We don’t need help formulating thoughts. I realize it seems at times that we don’t know what to say, but usually it’s because we are processing, taking our time or simply don’t want to interrupt everyone else who seems to be talking incessantly. Believe me, thinking is not a problem for most introverts. We do it quite well.
We don’t always want to be left alone. Yes, we may like our time alone—or at least our quiet time, but we don’t have to be alone. Personally, I don’t enjoy life as much when Cheryl isn’t around. Even if we aren’t talking non-stop, I like her in my company.
We can have fun. Some extroverts think we can’t. Because to them more fun is more conversation. But, we can have fun. Lots of it. And, there doesn’t have to be constant noise to do that. And, sometimes there does. And, my definition of fun may not be yours. And, that’s OK. But, let’s hang sometime and I’ll show you how it’s done my way!
We aren’t weird. Well, maybe. But, it’s not because we are introverts. Something tells me at least one of my readers of this post will be weird. (I’ve got some weird tendencies—I guess we all do.) You may or may not be introverted.
So, there are a few things you may not know about introverts.
This article originally appeared here.
