To the outside world, there might be something a little off about your personality. You totally love going out and being around people and you love to dance...but not always. You need time in solitude to recharge. You can't be "on" all the time. You're an introverted extrovert. It's the biggest oxymoron, next to jumbo shrimp and acting natural. You've probably had difficulty explaining this to other people because many only see introverted and extroverted people. But you're somewhere in the middle of those two. Here are some things you can probably relate to if you are an introverted extrovert.
1. Spending time with a lot of people is both exciting and exhausting.
If you have a big day out where you're around people all day, you probably come home afterwards feeling super sleepy and drained. Man, hanging out with people is tiring.
2. This means you need time by yourself to recharge after engaging in social activities.
"Well, I spent nine hours with people so I'm going to need nine hours by myself now" = you.
3. But, by the same token, you can't spend too much time alone.
You are an extrovert, after all. You need to spend time around other people. Yeah, you want to watch a whole season of "Game of Thrones" by your lonesome, but then you'll need to go out with your friends after.
4. Parties are your sweetest dream and worst nightmare.
It is the ultimate contradiction. You go out to this event where there is so much social interaction, which can be great. But what if, in the middle of it, you start to resent all this being around people? Ugh, why did you even want to come out tonight? You should just go home.
5. You may be very selective with how you set up your social calendar.
Because you need that time alone after being around other people, you probably don't like to fill up your schedule with a ton of back-to-back engagements. You might have dinner out with friends on Monday, and then a whole day at the beach with your roommates on Tuesday, so you probably won't want to do anything else until at least Thursday or Friday.
6. The battle of going out versus staying in is a constant one for you.
You've likely laid in your bed at one point, phone in hand, looking at the text your friend sent you, asking you to come out. Like, yeah you wanna go out, but do you actually want to go out? Are you going to regret that choice halfway through? But if you stay in, will you feel bad about yourself for not living life to the fullest and going out? It's just like the party scenario, but with any social gathering possible. The struggle is real.
7. Your friend group most likely isn't that big.
You probably like to maintain a rather small group of friends opposed to being BFFs with everyone ever. Your extroverted self may drive you to go out and have fun with your friends, but that introverted tendency in you prevents there from being too many.
8. People noticing you is scary and awesome.
Again, you have that sort of split in your personality, so your extroverted and introverted sides are at war with each other about this. Extroverted you screams "Yaass, give me that attention! Love me!" Meanwhile, that introverted streak you have is quietly crying in the corner somewhere over all these people looking at you.
9. Sensory overload probably happens to you a lot.
You're out somewhere, and suddenly, people are talking too much, the music is too loud, and the lights in here are so damn bright. You just feel the need to quickly escape to the dark quiet of your room, where the only light comes from your laptop, which is streaming Netflix. Why did you go out again? You don't make sense.
10. People mistakenly think you're a total extrovert.
Yeah, you're an extrovert...but you're not that kind of extrovert. You are very much an Oreo of extroverted cookie and an introverted creamy center. Embrace your oxymoronic nature, friend. It is who you are.
