People often label things. I'm not talking about writing our names on our food so no one takes it from the fridge (but we also do that too). Yes, we label things like drawers and cabinets, but what is more intriguing is the way we label ourselves. There is a tendency to classify, or identify ourselves as a specific type of person.
A couple of years ago, I took a psychology course where the teacher had my class take a personality test online to see if we were an extrovert or an introvert. It seemed simple enough. The next day in class, the teacher asked who received results that they were an extrovert. In response, a handful of people proudly raised their hands and smiled as if they had won something. I was confused. Had they won something? Then of course, the teacher asked which of us had received the other results of being an introvert. This time a few hands slowly rose up as if unsure about something, one of those hands being mine. Why were the labeled extroverts so happy and why were the introverts so discouraged?
The way my class responded was not due to their personality type. The way we acted was caused by how society incorrectly defines what an extrovert is and what an introvert is. For some reason there is a negative connotation attached to the word introvert. I would never admit this to myself until one day it was spelled out. Our English teacher had us debate on whether books or movies were better. In doing so, the class created a list of advantages and disadvantages for each. Underneath the list of disadvantages was written: becoming introverted. An uncomfortable feeling settled within me. Being introverted is a disadvantage? Is this true? Am I at a disadvantage to others simply because of a personality type?
There is a misconception to what an introvert is. I feel that a lot of times introverts are misjudged and underestimated. According to society, us introverts are quiet. We don't have social skills or like going out. We are not good leaders. We want to be left alone. We are underachievers. We aren't as happy as extroverts.
None of that is true.
You can still be an introvert and love going out. You don't have to be a bookworm or a homebody to be one either. More importantly, Introverts are just as capable as extroverts are. There is no disadvantage to being an introvert. The world would not work the same without them. For years, I didn't like that I was an introvert because there would be kids acting proud that they were an extrovert or writing on the board that being an introvert was a disadvantage.
"Each person seems to be energized more by either the external world (extroversion) or the internal world (introversion)" -Carl Jung
In other words, it is simply how we are energized. Introverts looks inward, toward themselves. Your mind is the internal world and the external world is simply everything else. So it isn't defined by how quiet or loud we are, or who is more outspoken. We all are introverted and extroverted to some degree. We are a world full of different personalities, not one of them superior to the other. There is no question as to which group is more successful or happier because both are entitled to and capable of that. I wish I could've told myself that when I was younger, despite what was going on around me. Introverts are capable. Introverts matter.
