Introverts explained...

I still owe you Part 2 of my last post. Sorry about that. It's coming. In the meantime...


Oh. My. Gosh.

This article from Boundless is totally about me. No seriously. No really:

I have a confession to make: I am a Friendship Focus failure.

Friendship Focus is a time in my church's Sunday morning services when we extend the traditional "good morning" and a handshake to 15 full minutes of getting tea or
coffee, saying hello to the people around us, and, ideally, introducing ourselves to new people and getting to know them.

I am great at the getting tea or coffee part. The chatting it up with the entire congregation, not so much. Sometimes I try. Sometimes I just take a really long time at the tea table so it will all be over and I can go sit down.

The above confession might lead you to believe that I'm shy. I'm not. I enjoy people and getting to know them. I have no problem with sharing my thoughts and opinions, even controversial ones, and in Bible studies I spend a lot of time biting my tongue so other people will have a chance to answer questions. I perform poetry and narrative with Soli Deo Gloria Ballet several times a year, as well as acting as our spokesperson, and I don't even get butterflies in my stomach when it comes to standing in front of a room full of people and speaking. And ever since I was a kid, I've been the one who went to great lengths to make sure new people were greeted and made comfortable. I'm not shy. What I am is introverted. And sometimes in church, that can be a problem.

It's like the writer, Rachel, is in my head or something.... I totally relate. This exactly describes me. I'm not anti-social--I LIKE people and making new friends--I'm just a total introvert.

An "introvert," as defined by the Myers-Briggs personality system, is someone who is more thought-oriented than action-oriented and gets energy from time spent alone. Some people argue that Jesus may have been an introvert: He often withdrew to be alone with His Father; He related to crowds in the way a purpose-driven introvert would do (teach, reach out one-on-one, withdraw to be alone or with close friends).

While the defining characteristic of introversion is a need for alone time in order to charge our batteries, introverts share a lot of other characteristics. They are often low to speak. They think things through. They're artistic and sensitive. They form close, deep friendships. They're terrible at small talk. And they don't do well in crowds.

Read on.