One of my main goals during this past week of vacation was to wake up early enough to watch "The Today Show." This is on until 11:00 AM each morning, so waking up early enough wasn't really a struggle (but finding time away from my painting project was rather difficult). Anyway, I managed to watch a segment describing the characteristics of shy people and introverts and found this incredibly interesting. This is what I learned:
On being shy: Shyness is a physical, uncontrollable, chemical "problem." Often, shy people are uncomfortable in group settings and, when in such settings, have a variety of nervous/anxious symptoms (such as blushing, sweating, stuttering, racing pulse, etc.).
On being introverted: Introverts tend to need a lot of time to themselves to "re-charge," as The Today Show stated. It was also implied that introverts are pretty boring...
Well, surprise, surprise!, I am both shy and introverted. Lucky me.
The shyness thing: This really is troublesome for me. For example, if I am asked to simply introduce myself (and there is more than two people in the room), holy freaking crap load. I swear if I were wearing an extra padded bra, cami, sweater, and a winter coat, you could still see my heart pounding through my chest. Not to mention the gallon of blood that instantly rushes straight to my face and my hands that get clammy in half a second. I don't understand why this happens to me and I freaking hate it.
Also, me in a group setting? I might as well not even be there. I rarely say two words, because inevitably, all eyes will be on me (and as I described above, that doesn't go well).
My introvertedness: Basically, after talking to or being around any number of people for more than a couple hours at a time, you can bet your bottom dollar that I am just aching to be by myself for a while. It's so tiresome sometimes to be engaged with someone (smiling/laughing at stupid jokes, making stupid jokes, stressing about whether or not there is a giant booger hanging out of my nose, attempting to sound interested in football/baseball/basketball) and I can only handle so much at a time. And, I really do feel like I need time, at least once a day, to regroup, make lists, relax (mentally), stare at my Mint account, and have kindergarten-style quiet time.
Dating an extrovert who is incredibly outgoing is interesting, to say the least. He has a hard time understanding why I don't want to be introduced to twenty different people each time we go out and why I don't talk to any of his friends because "they all love you," he says. That last part I find incredibly hard to believe--how the heck could they "love" me if I've said three words two them my entire life (he tends to exaggerate quite a bit)? I'd also like to add how I feel terrible if/when my shyness comes off as bitchiness...I swear I'm not trying to at all--it's just another tragic effect of shyness.
In addition, he can't stand when I just need to be alone for a while to get out of my "mood" that was caused by nothing, except for having too little time to myself; he takes it personally and always thinks he's done something wrong, even when I tell him otherwise.
AHHHH! I just realized it's currently 1:05 AM. This post must come to an abrupt end--I have one heck of a long, stimulating day full of lots of football talk ahead of me :)
Good night!
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