A Life Introverted

Some of you may know, I am an introvert.

And for those who don't know me that well, I often get told: "YOU CAN'T BE AN INTROVERT! YOU ARE LOUD AND CRAZY!"


But the truth is, folks, I am.

You know how I know this?

Because I am exhausted.



It is often said that the way you know if you are introverted or extroverted is by looking at the manner in which you "recharge".
And by "recharge" I mean the way that your "battery gets filled up".
Hahaha.
So unhelpful.
What I mean is, you look at the way that you get energized from being tired.





Extroverts recharge by being around people.





My bf Joella is an extrovert.
If she is alone for too long she gets really lonely and has FOMO (fear of missing out) and goes out to find people to hang out with. In recent years she has become content with keeping company with characters in TV shows and movies, but she'd always prefer the real thing.
She thrives in public gatherings, parties and such, and can usually stay up talking with friends for many many hours.

My fiance is also an extrovert, and all the criteria I spoke of above also applies to him.





I, on the other hand, do not have these characteristics.





If I am around people too long, I get very very tired and crabby.
When I am in a social situation, I exert a LOT of energy being the "Loud and Crazy" person everybody knows me to be.
After a prolonged period of this, I am spent.
I need to be alone. To recharge.

Any introverts will relate with this.

Being around people all day is not my idea of a good time.
I dislike crowds and being around people I don't know for extended periods.
I can't handle the small talk. It exhausts me.

This weekend has been a perfect example of my introvertedness shining through.

I got up at 8am today and met with some friends. It was a lot of fun and I immensely enjoyed it.
Then the fiance and I went to church. We chatted with some people afterwards.
We then went on to have brunch with another two friends.
By the end of this, I was spent.
My fiance had another social engagement with even more friends, but I couldn't bare to go.
Not because I didn't want to.

I was just  T O O   T I R E D.


After a few hours by myself, my "batteries were recharged" and I was feeling back to normal again.


I'm sure extroverts reading this will be like "What in the world??!!? I don't understand!!!!"

But that's kind of what's nice I suppose. People are different and that's what makes life interesting.
And exciting. And fun.



For me, life is fun as long as my batteries are recharged and I eventually get my alone time.


It's also lucky that my fiance doesn't drain my batteries the way large groups of people do.







Being an introvert working in hospitality can be quite tricky as well.
I wrote a blog about how tired I am all the time.

A huge contributing factor to my tiredness is the fact that I am an introvert working in an extroverts world.
Being around people all day at the cafe drains me like nobody's business.
By the end of the day, I am beyond knackered, and the thought of having to hang out with even more people can sometimes be unbearable.

That's why I can be a little elusive and hard to get a hold of at times.


It's just a situational thing.



I'm sure one day I'll get a better handle on my introvertness.

As for now, I just gotta make the most of what I can, and hang out with as many people as I can while my batteries are still at full capacity.



I guess the purpose of this entry is to give people an idea of what it's like to be an introvert.

It's not always as easy for people to understand as you'd think.



I am super happy being alone reading a book, watching a movie or playing a guitar.


My idea of a dream weekend (before I had a boyfriend) was spending the entire time all by myself.
WHAT LUXURY!

Things are a bit different now, but that's okay.


I think it's important that we don't give introverts a hard time and just let them have their "recharge time"
It is actually really critical for them, trust me, I know.





Cheers for reading my blog!


Until next time -
Take it easy x