As I was zooming through Pinterest this week, I happened to cross a pin that put people into two categories: extroverted and introverted people. Me being as curious as I am, I clicked on the link and read more about these two personality types. An introvert is someone who is drained by social encounters and energized by solitary, often creative pursuits. Their disposition is frequently misconstrued as shyness, social phobia, or even avoidant personality disorder, but many introverts socialize easily; they just strongly prefer not to. An extrovert, on the other hand, is someone who is talkative, sociable, action-oriented, enthusiastic, friendly, and out-going. I quickly realized that I was strongly associated with the introvert—not that I hated socializing with people, but that I am always drained afterward and would have rather been home watching a good movie. I also realized that my best friend seemed to be the exact opposite—an extrovert. How could an extrovert and an introvert even be friends—aren’t they complete opposites of each other? Well, in case you’re curious, here are eight things that tend to happen when an extrovert and introvert happen to be best friends.
1. A fun weekend tends to have two different definitions in the friendship:
Being an introvert, you need to recharge after a week of classes and talking to classmates. Sitting down, wrapped up in blankets, with either a good book to read or a good movie to watch sounds like the perfect weekend for you. However, being an extrovert, there was no way you got enough social interaction this week during class—duh, you can’t talk during it. So your idea of a fun weekend is taking your BFF to a party to meet all these new and wonderful people you haven’t even met yet. Well, isn’t this an awkward situation?
2. This brings me to the next part of the friendship, compromise:
When your BFF is an extrovert, and loves doing things that drain you and make your anxiety levels rise, it can sometimes be super hard to keep them happy. And if you’re an extrovert with a best friend that wants to stay in for that night when you need to be around people, it can be hard not to leave them all alone. This is where compromise comes in. Instead of not hanging out together, the introvert can get a little more social and go to the party for like an hour—OK, like 15 minutes, really—and the extrovert can promise to watch the movie as soon as they get home. One won’t stay trapped in their room all day and the other won’t be out until four o’clock in the morning again.
3. Which brings me to my next point, they help you to enjoy new experiences:
Would an extrovert have ever thought that binge-watching a whole season of "Scandal" would be as amazing if their introverted friend didn’t show them? Would an introvert know how fun going to the club could be if their extrovert friend hadn't forced them to go? No! With compromise brings new, fun experiences that either one of them could have been missing out on.
4. They also balance each other out well:
Introverts teach their extroverted friend to chill out and enjoy being by themselves while an extrovert teaches an introvert how to get out of their room and have some fun. They give each other balance in life which makes them genuinely enjoy each other’s company, as they understand each other better than anyone else.
5. They also really complete one another:
Over in one corner is someone who hates talking and loves to listen, and in the other is someone who loves to talk and doesn’t understand the concept of listening very well. Who wins? They both do!
6. But they also tend to get very frustrated with each other:
It can be really annoying when the introverted friend needs time to recharge all the time, and it can be irritating when you need to recharge and your extroverted friend constantly wants to socialize with a ton of people. The relationship can take a lot of work, as it leads to a lot of fights sometimes. However, the kindness from an introvert and the easiness of an extrovert to get over something lets the fighting quickly end. People fight with the people they love. It happens. And sometimes it can be hard to understand each other and not feel pressured to be the perfect friend. But, because the two complement each other so well, they tend to quickly get over it and get back to their amazing friendship.
7. The main source of fighting happens to be with making plans:
Extroverts love to just go with the flow and be spontaneous about everything—not something introverts enjoy doing. We like to plan and think about things for a while and then go out to do things—we need to determine how much a certain activity is going to mentally drain us and whether or not we are going to find it fun, while an extrovert pretty much enjoys doing everything. Well, except being locked in a room alone that is.
8. But no matter what, they can be the best person that you ever meet:
Who wants to be friends with someone who is the same as you? You don’t want a best friend who talks as much as you do without listening, or have a BFF who just sits in silence with you. If you two were put together in one person, you’d be the perfect person. You may not understand each other all the time, but you do love each other and would go to the end of the world to protect each other.
