The Introvert Advantage

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by Michelle Lasley

Michelle Lasley is a mother, wife in Pacific Northwest learning to balance green dreams with budget realities.

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January 5, 2012

Categories: Family, One a Day, Post a Day 2012

People mistake me for an extrovert.

This surprises me.

Some people think that because I willingly engage in conversations with strangers that I must be an extrovert. Some people think my often chipper disposition makes me an extrovert. Some people mistake my community engagement as an extroverted tendency.

I am not an extrovert. I do not hate people. I am not chipper all the time. And, I often loathe talking to people.

I am an introvert. I am an introvert with the strengths input, intellection, belief, learner, and deliberative. I am an introvert who lives internally. I live in my head. I think in my head. I deliberate in my head. I find energy — in my head.

That’s what makes me an introvert. It’s not how well someone can engage with others that makes one an introvert. It’s not enjoying parties. It’s where you draw your energy. It’s how you refresh. A fellow introvert answered the question of where she finds her energy with: alone in the woods. That’s an introvert. I am getting energized writing this. Sure, there are distractions around. Sure, the TV is on. Yes, my husband is in the room. Yes, we are together, but I am not engaging in those other activities. I am writing. I am writing, more or less alone. I am in my head pondering, reflecting, deliberating.

That’s what makes me an introvert.

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