An Introduction To The Mind Of An Introvert

Hello, Steemit Community!

My name is Yuzlem, but my friends call me Yuzi. I am 25 years old and I am from Bulgaria. I have a bachelor's degree in Preschool and Elementary School Education. Now I work as a business assistant in a multinational company and I like it.

I would like to introduce myself and I will start by telling you that I am so introverted that it hurts sometimes. I don't like being among big groups of people I hate public speaking and I hate small talk. Hope I haven't lost you here.

It all started in kindergarten when I realized I don't like playing in big groups. I always wanted to find one kid to play with, to get to know and to become friends.
Then, there was school and OH MY GOD this is where I got really scared. I started having anxiety attacks before entering the classroom and every time we had a project and I was supposed to present in front of my classmates. Then, in 8th grade I learned about introverts and extroverts and my life flashed through my eyes. I realized I was doomed to never be the social type of person and to never have the ability to take part in big social events.
This is when I started reading more about it and found out this is normal. This is how we, people, are made to be. We are all different.

Realizing this helped me embrace who I am and I started to feel good about it. I started spending more time with myself - reading, drawing, making cards with a technique I found - quilling.

Now, I am 25 years old, working and in a serious relationship, feeling good about myself and I don't care what others think about me. I am often asked "why are you so quiet?", "why don't you join our conversation?", "why don't you go out more?". Well, I just don't feel like it.

Studies show that there are differences between an introvert's brain compared to an extrovert's. Information travels longer through our brains and we process it more deeply. We take longer to verbalize our thoughts. This doesn't mean that extroverts are superior to us. We are just different kinds of personalities and there is nothing to worry about - you can't be "cured" or taught how to be an extrovert.

My problem is that I am also shy. See, there is a difference between being an introvert and being shy. Both introverts and shy people avoid socializing sometimes but they do it for different reasons. Introverts' energy gets drained while socializing and shy people are just scared of doing it. They are scared of speaking in front of people, scared of approaching someone just to talk to them and scared of stepping out of their comfort zone. Well, I am both but I've learned to live with it. And you should too.

Throughout the years I found some techniques that help me overcome my shyness and believe me they work. Here they are:

• meditation
• suppressing it for a second right before starting a conversation (this works sometimes)
• showing interest in others - this helps you lead in a conversation

I will write more about these techniques and how I find them useful in my next post.

Thank you for taking the time to read!