Hey all. You would not believe how stressful this week has been starting my new job and working a lot of hours...I maxed out part-time hours last week, clocking in at 30.5 hours total. Whew! Pile on the stress of the holiday, music practice, social issues, and school work....we're talking stress headaches. I literally got sick on Thanksgiving and then had a massive headache on Sunday and into Monday just from stress alone. Yuck!
Anyways, I want to write a muttering on the topic of a common misconception I am often a victim of. I know I'm not the only one who deals with this, but I just wanted to offer some definitions and argument to try and add one more piece of defense for the individuals who suffer from this misconstruing of facts.
I'm an introvert. Take it or leave it, but there it is.
Let me define an introvert.
An introvert is someone who gains energy from being alone. Being around groups of people drains them physically and mentally. Extroverts are the exact opposite.
The misconception is this: Introverts hate people.
This is so not true!
Most people would laugh at me if I told them I was introverted because when I get around people I morph into a charismatic, outgoing person. That's true, for the most part, but I need a lot of recharge time after a day out. At work I have to be friendly and happy for several hours at a time, even when people are taking out their irritation on me. After work I come home and stay in my room--alone--for hours and hours.
I'm actually quite shy, but I often face my fear of being embarrassed and push through it anyways. A lot of times if I say something, or suggest something, it's because I pretty much forced myself. If I've ever asked you to hang out one-on-one, chances are I had a couple deep breaths and a pep talk before I made the call, and I was seriously considering hanging up before it connected. A lot of times, my confident, outgoing attitude is just a mask for the insecurity and shyness that I can't escape.
But I don't hate people.
I don't hate hanging out with my friends. It just makes me tired. It makes me a little stressed at times. But I don't hate it. I don't hate going to work. I don't hate putting on a fake smile just so that grumpy old lady doesn't have a terrible day. I don't hate having to be engaging with that irritating guy who's treating me like an ignoramus. I just have to have my alone time at the end of the day. That's all I ask for.
Granted there are some introverts who hate people. I'm not saying there aren't any, I'm just saying that in general, they don't. You can't define every introvert in the world by the few that are different. Most of us like our alone time, and we might be a little quieter in a social setting than others, but we don't necessarily hate everyone. We aren't all grumpy cat, okay? ;)
So there's my rant of the day. Hope y'all are having a fantastic week and I'll talk at 'cha later. :)
Also, note that there is a definitive difference between introversion, shyness, and social anxiety. Introversion is "the state of or tendency toward being wholly or predominantly concerned with and interested in one's own mental life", while shyness (or diffidence) is: "the feeling of apprehension, lack of comfort, or awkwardness especially when a person is in proximity to other people." And social anxiety is defined as: "a discomfort or a fear when a person is in a social interaction that involves a concern of being judged or evaluated by others." ~(Definitions gleaned from Wikipedia)
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