From your local neighborhood introvert: Love me for me.

There's a growing fad in society, that seems to solely revolve around me. I should feel special right? No, I need to rant.

People have an obsession with labeling and criticizing me. It seems every single person has an opinion of me, and feels the need to tell me what is wrong with me and how I should change it.

Here's the ugly truth. I am an introvert.

There, I got it out.

I used to be ashamed of it. I used to deny it. I used to try to prove I was not. But I've come to terms with it, and have learned to appreciate it.


While we are talking about what I am, why don't I tell you everything.
I am quiet, I am rowdy.
I am calm, I am wild.
I am reserved, I am adventurous.
I am a mega planner, I am spontaneous.
I am a very deep thinker, I am a very big joker.
I am a home body, I am a world traveler.
I am very responsible, I am very unorganized.
I prefer routine, I am unpredictable.

You see, there is no specific label for me. I am.... ME.

I take what people say to me very personally. But it has become comical to me how in an hour's span, one person will tell me I am the funniest person they know, and another will tell me I am too uptight and need to learn to have a sense of humor. Who do I believe?

Well I've come up with the answer after a lot of thought.

I am both.

As an introvert, it takes time for me to build rapport and trust with you. I put up my guard when I first meet you. It just comes natural to me. And if I feel judged, criticized, or labeled by you, it will be very hard for you to ever see me let my guard down.

Once I let my guard down, and let you in, you'll be very glad I did. I become one of the most interesting people you will ever know. And it's the case with most introverts.

Someone once told me that there was a castle in South Dakota made entirely of corn, and that they wanted to go there some day. I began telling them some of the interesting things inside the palace, and they looked at me with disbelief, "You mean you've been there?"

They said they just pegged me as a home body. And that's exactly what they did. They pegged me as one thing without ever taking the time to find out what I am all about.

I am the person who has traveled to 9 different nations, and 48 states.
I am the person who has gone on a whim and ended up unexpectedly at a safari.
I am the person who organized 25 people to serenade a friend when she had, had a rough week.
I am the person who was the first of her team to try eating crickets and goat toungue while in Africa.
I am the person planned and saved for a year to send my parents to Ireland.
I am the person who, when a kid drew a smile on my face, kept it on the entire day just for the enjoyment of seeing every person that looked at me get a big smile themselves.
I am the person who gets down on my hands and feet and mimics my hyper dog, to show her how annoying she's being.
I am the person who is okay with going several days without saying a single word to another human being.
I am the person who prefers a nice long nap, over a wild party.
I am the person who will avoid talkative people at all costs.
I am the first person to get a lonely and hurting individual to open up.


I am... ME.

I can make you cry with the story of me talking to a child abductor and convincing him to return the toddler unharmed.
I can make you laugh so hard you forget to breathe with the story of getting detained and interrogated by Canadians.

I am... ME.
 In my eyes, introverts are just like an unpolished diamond. On the surface it looks boring and dull, but once you get inside, you find a treasure.

Call me quiet, call me a loner, call me anti social, call me a home body, call me an under achiever, call me dull, call me unexciting, call me uninteresting. That's ok, it's all true. But it's all just one part of me.

Like many introverts, I am extremely complex. All I ask, is that instead of labeling me, instead of telling me what I am, just love me for me.

If you learn to love your local introvert for what you think they are, you may just fall in love with what you discover.

Sincerely,
 Your local neighborhood introvert.