Introverts & Extroverts
June 15, 2023
Not a closed statement, but an open thought. I like to think of introverts as people who simply need more time alone to reset so that they can enjoy time spent with others, whenever that time comes. And that’s so important, whether one is an introvert or extrovert. Appreciate time with yourself, fall in love with it, take that time, so that you can truly enjoy the people you’re around for the time that you have with them. It’s better for you and for others. Fill your cup so that it overflows, instead of trying to pour out your cup, draining yourself.
Back to my view on introverts… maybe that’s just how I like to describe myself haha. An introverted extrovert?! A former full-blown introvert for sure. Maybe now, an extrovert? I think I used to fall into a trap of limiting this idea into black and white. Am I an introvert, or an extrovert?? Man, I wish I was an extrovert. They’re so cool. They’re so outgoing…
But, I like to think now that the whole introvert extrovert conversation should be and is, at least for me, on a spectrum. People aren’t one or the other. No one truly wants to be secluded forever. And no one loves to be with people 25/7. Hmm.. maybe there are some, but I haven’t met anyone like it. Maybe some do, but I believe that to be in a healthy space, you need at least a little bit of both. Balance. Waving up and down the spectrum.
Now for a little reflection, when I put my current self in the shoes of my younger self, the timid one who shied away from people and put on herself the label of introvert, I believe that the desire I had of being alone was more-so based on the fact that I had a plethora of social anxiety and worry, and lack of self confidence, for that matter, rather than the fact that I didn’t want to be around people. It wasn’t, “I hate people”. It was, if I’m remembering correctly, “I like people but I’m not confident that they like me, and I am very confident that I will be awkward, and I will not be an enjoyable presence”.
The good news is that I learned to gain my identity and confidence not in what other people think or what I think they think… that gets too complicated too quickly, and frankly, is a time waster. My identity and confidence is in Jesus Christ. I am who He says I am. He created me perfectly, in His image, with a beautiful, radiant soul, clothed with strength, dignity, power, and authority in His great name. I bear an overwhelming abundance of the Fruits of the Spirit. And I am devoted to Him, already holding an eternal victory. His words, not mine. So I’ll believe it forever.
Sure, people will change that occasionally because I will fault and my gaze will switch from what He thinks to what people think. That’s human nature. We want approval. We want to be accepted. We want people to want us. And we’re called to community that builds, so we will find that. And that’s great. BUT our want for earthly approval should never trump our desire for God, our Fathers, approval. And the great thing is that He approves. He loves. We are already fully accepted into His loving arms. No matter where we are in life. What a beautiful thing, isn’t it?
Where may you be, on the spectrum of introvert/extrovert?
