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Thursday, March 27, 2014

I didn't know I was....an introvert!



I used to watch that show, I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant, on TLC. And being a women who has been trying to get pregnant, I was wondering how can a women not know that she is carrying precious cargo? Give me a break! But it was interesting nonetheless. And if you were that woman, please give me your story.

Somewhere in my late 20s I found out that I was an introvert! For most of my life I thought I was an extrovert! Really, I did! My dad, on the other hand, had known for years that I was an introvert because he already "typed" my sisters and I and we all turned out to be introverted, according to the Meyer-Briggs Type Indicator book that he had been reading. On a small note, my mother is the only extrovert in our family of five!

I couldn't believe it! How could I be? I loved to talk, I loved hanging out with my friends, I liked to meet people and a lot of other things that I thought extroverted people liked to do. When I heard the word Introvert, I saw a very shy, awkward, didn't like to be around people and a nerd. I know! I know!

It wasn't until the church that I started going to (which I LOVE!) had a conference that they called SOMA. This conference included Meyer Briggs testing and Strengths Finder 2.0 assessment. I found out my "type" is INFP. My "strengths" are Adaptability, Connectedness, Empathy, Harmony and Relator.

In a few words, I learned that when it comes to relationships, introverts like to get to know a few people really well and extroverts like to get to know a whole range of people and have an array of friends. I don't know if that makes sense. But I'll say for me, getting to know and close knit group of friends is important to me (though my husband says I act more like an extrovert in that way but I'll always count on my hand, maybe one and an half hands the friends that I will always consider closer to me than others).
This was so helpful to me! Some people seem to know just who they are, how they are made and what their strengths are. For me, I was still trying to figure myself out! As funny as that sounds, I was. And now I had the opportunity to really get to know how God created my "bent".

Taking these two assessments really opened my eyes and helped me to see myself for who I was. For one, I was an introvert. Ahh, it started to make sense to me!

This is what I have learned about myself so far:
    
     - That it's okay that I'm not the "life" of the party
     - That I do love talking to people but on a one on one or even two people conversation
     - That I love to get away where it is quiet, so that I can regroup
     - That fun and relaxing for me is going to the beach or pool and reading
     - That I can be a little socially awkward but not like I use to be
     - That I love my extrovert friends and that I don't have to compete with them to be heard
     - That I'm still growing and learning more about my "bent"

So what would you say your personality bends more toward: Extroversion or Introversion?

Until next time,

Mrs. M





3 comments:

Rachel said...

I've taken the Meyers-Briggs test and I test as an Extrovert, but not extremely so. It is very interesting to see the results of those tests and the tendencies of different personalities.

Susannah said...

I used to think I was an extrovert too because I thought it was better to be that. Thankfully, I've learned that being an introverted person isn't a bad thing! :-)

Stevie said...

This is such an interesting topic to me. I have always known without a doubt that I was an introvert, and when I got to college I was not surprised at all by my INTJ results! My husband on the other hand is definitely an extrovert!