What Are YOU?

Thanks for all the great comments this morning on my test run! I really appreciate it. PT went really well. He worked out some knots in my groin and then focused on my knee. He said everything feels good and just keep positive. He reminded me that running 5 miles today at 8:40/pace is not too shabby and the fact that I didn’t have any pain was a good sign. He said the fact that my knee felt “loose” was exactly how it should feel. He said he has been working on it for 3 weeks now and trying to loosen the grip my muscles have at the knee insertion point. So…he gave me the green light to run 5 miles again on Wednesday. Tomorrow will be a no-impact swim and yoga day. So…I am trying to roll with it. 😉

 So…on to more interesting information: are you an extrovert or an introvert? Do you even know the difference? Before doing some research I would have immediately said I was an extrovert. Here is what I learned:

Extroverts tend to love the limelight: they are born performers. Their brain chemistry makes them forthcoming, open, and energetic. Extroverts tend to want to be on the go. They thrive on activities, both physical and mental. The key to extroverts is that they gain their energy from the outside world. Things outside of these people stimulate them, or energize them. This includes other people and outside, exciting activities. Extroverts become more energetic or charged up by social events and large group activities. They enjoy being busy and surrounded by people.

Introverts are often misunderstood. They can appear to be shy and aloof, or calm, or even unfeeling. In actuality, introverts are driven and energized by their own inside equilibrium. They are the calm, collected group. Introverts work within their minds and excel at such tasks as writing, composing, engineering, and researching, and in disciplines such as design, diagnostic imaging, psychiatry, and radiology. Introverts feel the most energized and complete when they are peacefully thinking or working in their minds, or by being calmly stimulated by the outside world. Large, loud parties, thrill-seeking, and too many people drain introverts.

Extraversion (70-75% of population)	Introversion (25-30% of population)
Energized by what goes on in the outer world	Energized by what goes on in the inner world
Need to talk to clarify what they think	Need to reflect before they talk
Can be seen as accessible and understandable	Can be seen as subtle and difficult to know well initially
Difficult for them to just sit & listen	Work quietly without interruption
Often work to change he world	Often work to understand the world
Interests often have breadth	Interests often have depth
Interaction	Concentration
Sociability	Territoriality
Multiplicity of relationships	Limited relationships
Expenditure of energies	Conservation of energies

After reading all of this…I don’t think I am an extrovert so much. I think I was more of one when I was younger. I think I fall into both categories and can see qualities of both sides in myself. I think as I have gotten older, though, I have become more of an introvert. Keith is hands down an extrovert and he knows it! He recharges and energizes off other people. I do not. I value and love my alone time. Neither is right nor wrong but interesting. I do tend to be very outgoing and talkative but some of my deeper emotions are so well hidden that I am not entirely sure that I put my real self out into the world. This causes me to sometimes feel like a fraud but maybe it isn’t fraud so much but a protection mechanism. I don’t think there is really anything wrong with that. I tend to keep my deeper feelings inside. So sometimes what you see isn’t necessarily what is going on on the inside. Don’t you love it when something makes you think…I mean really think about who you are?!

Are you an Extrovert or an Introvert?

Did you opinion change after reading the above information?