Introversing The World (My First Blog)

Photo by Min An from Pexels

Introvert, a word that is something alien to my sets of vocabulary until I've reached my college or university years. My brother and I grew up together in a family of four. My mother was at that time working as a teacher and my father was part of the newspaper/magazine printing press company back then.  Growing up with my brother, is like having the best years of my life and at the same time, it gives me the urge to say the phrase "Who are you kidding?"

As a kid, I’ve gone through most of the common issues that were faced by children my age at that time such as sibling comparisons, peer pressures and bullying although, in the past, we don’t have a name for it (bullying), it just falls into the ‘teasing’ category. Maybe that is how our teachers or parents would subtly describe it before. Accepting and expecting gifts from direct and extended families would have its share of this growing negative emotional turbulence. I would cry over a walking toy robot that my brother would have as a gift, as opposed to my tiny toy car that wouldn’t even move if I don’t push it.

All these unwanted experiences during my childhood days could have been one way or another set my track to the no return ticket to being me now, as the introvert. In most general case, introverts are exactly the opposite of an extrovert. In order to understand that, we need to define extroverts as simply as “assertive and enthusiastic individuals who thrive in highly stimulative social environments”. So, introverts are in summary, the reverse definition of the extroverts that has just been explained here.

The new hypothesis, however, defines the 4-types of introverts. 1. The Social introvert, which is closely related to the general definition of the introverts. Under this group of introverts, they are mostly of the homebodies type. They’re contented with a book or a computer and prefers to be in a small company of friends or close friends. 2. The Thinking introvert, which is generally thoughtful and self-reflective. They are busy looking into themselves more often. 3. The Anxious introvert, I guess this is the more serious type of introverts. They are very self-conscious, their confidence is quite low and they are anxious even when they are alone. 4. The Restrained introvert, this group of introvert has the tendency to always think before they speak or before they do something. Not that it’s bad but too much of something is always bad right? So these are the categories of introverts that has been observed in the recent studies. It’s still an on-going observation but, it does give light to the wrong notion that introverts fall into just a single category.

I belong to a mix of Social and Restrained type of introverts but I guess I’m more of the Social type most of the time. It does help to learn the kind of personality that you have or I have. It allows you to understand your character, why you’re doing this and why are you not doing that. It opens your mind to the possibilities that are suited to the kind of personality that you have. It also helps you to work out a method that will somehow control some of its negative effects. Being an introvert isn’t really bad. That makes us unique and it aligns us to the like of those famous introverts such as Einstein, Bill Gates and Spielberg to name a few. The struggle is real for introverts like us, it’s a constant battle of interfering thoughts and emotions going on inside. There’s also the pressure from our extrovert peers who seem to gobble up everything they come across with, showcasing their big personalities and indulging themselves with their out of this world enthusiasm.

Introverts would just feel smaller in the same place as they do. But it’s how you look at yourself positively that matters, use that weakness as your strength, try to break the habit once in a while by slowly overcoming what you feared most. Feed your thoughts daily with good vibes and happy thoughts.  Explore outside of your comfort zone. Don’t be discouraged if you’re an introvert but rather be proud to say that “I am an introvert”. :)

If you want to know more about this study, I’ve attached the link here as a reference so you may also know what category you belong to. 

Till next time...