Enough said. :)
Today I discovered a page on Facebook entitled, "Introverts Are Awesome" and it touched me in a way that is beyond words. If you've read my previous blogs, you have figured out that I'm different from the "socially acceptable young woman." Personally, I think that there should be no way to define who is "normal" and who is "weird" but I digress because that is something that is out of my control.
For my entire life I struggled with this feeling of inadequacy because I didn't completely understand human interaction. I liked being alone; in fact, I thrived on it. Being alone gave me time to think, relax and essentially, recharge. However, while everyone else was out making memories with their friends, I would find myself wondering why it was that I couldn't be around other people very long.
Now, I am not saying that introverts don't like other people. I cannot clearly define every introvert's personality or feelings through this shared trait. I'm just saying that these qualities were prevalent all through my young life and they still are today.
Back to the Facebook page, it posts articles, pictures and quotes that explain the traits that many introverts share and finding it made me not feel so alone anymore. I realized that, yes, I'm different, but I'm not as weird as I thought I was. I just chose to live my life this way and that was okay. I've always said that you should march to the beat of your own drummer but if I told you that I never wanted to be an extrovert, I'd be lying through my teeth. But I realize that I need to stay true to myself because when I tried to be that way, I just couldn't do it because it didn't make me happy. It wasn't who I was and I wasn't willing to change.
I liked who I was, most of the time, and didn't understand why other people didn't feel the same way about me. Sure, I was a bit socially awkward but that was because being around any sized group of people made me feel nervous, uncomfortable and like a bug under a microscope. I felt that those people could see right through me and my fake confidence, which didn't make me feel any better. In fact, it always made the situation worse than it already was.
Now, introverts are not people that sit home alone every single day and wallow in misery. Most of them like to be alone with their thoughts for a little bit and then have some social contact with a small, intimate group of friends. They are also known for being extremely creative, which probably explains my love of reading and writing books. So even though some people see introverts as weird, different, or even in some extreme cases, freaks, without them, there would be no music, books, poetry, etc. (That is not to say that an extrovert has never done anything creative. I'm just trying to make a generalized point.)
Here are some snippets from the page that I relate to:
- "People think that you're depressed but you really just like to be alone."
- "The one who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. Those who walk alone are likely to find themselves in places no one has ever been before."
- "No, I am not lost in a book. I am finding all it has to offer."
- "Don't ever accept my silence for ignorance, my calmness for acceptance or my kindness for weakness."
- "No one understands your intense dislike of talking on the phone or answering your door."
So, as you can see, I am slowly starting to come to terms with who I was and who I am. I am transforming into a woman that can be comfortable in her own skin and not care that she'd rather write blogs on a Friday night than go out to a night club with her extroverted friends. It does make me feel better though that there are people out there who understand exactly what I'm going through and that they have accepted themselves too. This world would be a lot better if people would stop judging others and they just started accepting people for who they really are.
People just need to be aware of the fact that certain people think differently than others and that doesn't make them weird or bad people. It just makes them human. Life would be boring if everyone had the same personality or everyone used the same thought processes. Slowly but surely, I think that we are moving in the right direction to get to that place where tolerance, acceptance and love are more prevalent throughout our everyday lives. We're not quite there yet, though. It's going to take some time but hey... sounds like life to me.
If you are an introvert or you are just looking for more information about introverts, here is a link to the Facebook page that I have been speaking of. Feel free to just check it out or even "like" it. :)
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