Many say that opposites attract. For some it seems to be true, I know that it happened with me.
I am what some would call "introverted." Though the term isn’t used on a daily basis, it seems to fit me the most. Introverts, myself included, tend to keep to themselves and gain more energy from being alone.
I grew up surrounded by many people and for some reason, those people didn’t meet my standards when it came to conversations. I gained my energy from books, and the fictional characters I surrounded myself with became my best friends. Characters like Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley and the other Weasley’s were the ones I felt I can relate to. After I started attending college, those characters were my friends from my childhood. My new friends became the different and more intelligent characters such as the Doctor from "Doctor Who" and Sherlock Holmes. I always felt giddy just being able to spend approximately forty-five minutes to an hour with these characters even if they didn’t know that I considered them my friends.
Like all good things, they must come to an end.
Four years ago I ran into an acquaintance from high school. He was, and still is, an extrovert. He seemed to seek comfort amongst others and he happened to be everything I wasn’t. Outgoing, loud and egotistical. When I ran into him in 2012, he was the kind of person that I wanted to avoid, but somehow I loved the attention he gave me. He had friends everywhere. Every time we would go out, he would run into somebody. This always made me feel uncomfortable because I often wanted to be at home and curl up on the couch and read a good book, or find something to binge watch on Netflix.
This person did everything he could to take me out of my comfort zone. He took me to places I never wanted to associate myself with and surrounded me with people I wouldn’t walk 20 feet near. He taught me to accept everyone and anyone I laid my eyes on without being judgmental at all. In a way, he changed me, but not really.
In our relationship, I was brought out of my shell and found friendships in real life that I thought I wouldn’t surround myself with, but I’ve also taught that extrovert how to seek comfort within himself. Together we conquered some fears we never expected to face. I conquered my fear of being surrounded by many individuals completely different from me, while he conquered his fear of being alone.
Everything I have learned so far is just as a shimmer of me breaking out of a lifestyle I was raised in. Even though I continue to seek some comfort in fictional characters when I’m alone, I know that I am also able to seek comfort from others. Hopefully, I was able to teach the extrovert I’m dating how to seek comfort with himself, even if he doesn’t like it. At the end of the day, I can happily report that I’m fortunate to have run into this person four years ago.
