I’m An Introvert?

Let me paint a picture for you really quickly:

You’re invited to a party. Some of your friends will be there amongst others who you’ve never met. There will be food, drink and music. You accept the invitation, only to immediately regret the decision. You’d much rather pop some popcorn and watch your favorite shows or a movie on TV, snuggled on the couch next to your significant other (or even alone). You instantly start making up excuses why you won’t be able to make it. The party is 3 weeks from next Thursday. You’ve already decided that you won’t be going because “something came up at the last minute”.

Sound familiar? If yes, hang on, ’cause it’s about to get interesting.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve experienced this myself. I’ve heard of the term “Introverted Personality” before, but I always assumed that I had an “Extroverted Personality”, based solely on my career choices: I’m a standup comedian, on-camera host and live event Emcee and Deejay. It would only make sense that I’d be outgoing and fun; the life of the party, right?

That’s what I thought too. And that’s why, for the longest time, I thought something was wrong with me. If I’m so extroverted, why do I prefer to be alone or in small groups? Why does the thought of having people over at my house give me such anxiety when I’m happy and even thriving while entertaining hundreds of people at a live event (party, comedy show, etc…)?

It didn’t make sense. For the longest time I thought I was anti-social or that I just didn’t like people.

I’ve asked myself time and again: What the hell is wrong with me? Why don’t I know how to interact with people like other people do?

And then one day, I read an article that a friend shared on Facebook. The article was titled “23 Signs You’re Secretly An Introvert”.

It rocked my world because I could relate to 18 out of the 23 traits. I did some more research and found that nobody is completely Introverted or extroverted, but we all lean in one direction or the other. I also found out that there are a number of (successful) celebrities who identify as Introverts (Lady GaGa being one of them – this made things fall into place a little more for me, after all, if someone as crazy as GaGa is introverted, it’s not such a stretch for me…)

Another article I found listed some common myths about Introverts. It’s really interesting. I also found it to be quite on point.

The more research I did, the more I realized that I’m not anti-social at all (most of the time). It’s totally normal to enjoy your solitude.

It turns out I’m an introvert.

And you know what?

I’m ok with that. Better than ok, I’m embracing it. After all, if I’m teaching Jacob to love and accept himself unconditionally, how can I not do the same for myself? I’m an introvert, not a hypocrite…

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Jacob’s Daddy