Good news! There’s nothing wrong with me. I’m just an introvert! Sounds stupid but it was a major revelation recently thanks to a conversation with co-worker, Lynn, and her suggestion of a book called the “The Introvert Advantage“. This book should be renamed to “Mick for Dummies” or “The Missing Manual of Mick” or “The World According to Mick”. It should have my picture on the front cover. And it should be required reading for anyone who considers me a friend or works with me. Really. It’s THAT accurate.

It explained to me:

  • why I’m more comfortable in smaller groups and one-on-ones than larger groups
  • why I keep information and my opinions to myself unless they are pried out of me
  • why I get grumpy if I’m around people or activities too long
  • why I like to backpack in the wilderness and can easily go for days without human interaction
  • why I can focus on and completely lose myself in figuring out geeky computer stuff
  • why eye contact is uncomfortable
  • why I like to listen a lot more than I like to talk
  • why, when I take in a lot of information, it takes me a while to process it
  • why I am not good “off the cuff”
  • why I don’t like the spotlight
  • why I always underestimate how much I know on a subject until I have completely mastered it
  • why words elude me in oral communication, but am able to put anything I want into writing
  • why it completely drains me to have to do a presentation
  • why I need alone time to recharge my batteries
  • why I prefer delving deep into a single subject rather than skimming the surface on many subjects

And it explained to me how and why extroverts (3/4 of the population) think and act the way they do and why their qualities are more valued in modern society.

I’ve come to realize several things:

  • That not everyone has a constant running internal dialog (chatter!) with themselves. WHAT??? REALLY??? (I can’t even fathom this.)
  • That I don’t have brain damage. No joke. I seriously thought that my brain was damaged in some way. That maybe my mom dropped me when I was a baby. Really.
  • That I’m just hard wired differently. And it’s not something I need to “overcome”. I just need to know how to use it to my advantage.

Introverts unite!!! Errr…hang on a sec…