Taking Care of My Introvert Self

Are you an introvert?  Do you know what an introvert is?  If you’d asked me many years ago I’d say yes I was (in an ashamed sort of way) and that it means I’m shy and can be anti-social and I prefer small groups and being alone and like to be a hermit at times.  I also would have had all sorts of other judgments about being an introvert that I may or may not have shared.  About how it’s bad (better to be an extrovert) and I need to make myself be around other people more, that it’s probably something defective in me that need to be fixed that makes me want to hide away, that I’m probably scared of other people and interacting with them and once I get over that fear I won’t be that way anymore.  Being an introvert was an internal failing and something I thought I’d be better without and that if I worked hard enough I could leave it behind.

Then, a few years ago, I read something that caused me to gasp, smile, do a happy dance, and relax all at the same time.  It changed the way I looked at being an introvert, and each time I’ve read it elsewhere it has spurred a deeper understanding of myself. 

At the most basic level, being an extrovert means you get energy from being with other people, and being an introvert means you get energy by being alone. 

Being an introvert doesn’t stem from not trying hard enough or being too shy or from some internal failing.  Being an introvert simply has to do with how our batteries get charged!  And everything else that characterizes an introvert kind of stems from that- the way we live our lives in order to have enough energy to do the things we need and want to do.

And, being a person who appreciates making things visual, I tried to figure out what that would LOOK like.

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