1. I have often been perceived as arrogant. I really struggled with this as I always tried not to be that way. After talking with my dad about it, I realized that I was extremely self-focused socially. I didn’t care to take time to make new friends or reach out to others. Maybe elitist, but not arrogant. 😉
   
2. I have high self-esteem. The reason being, I put lots of stock into what those closest think about me. And I’m very blessed to have a very good and honest inner circle who can tell me straight and build me up. I can take it when people don’t like me or my personality. I don’t dwell on the fact that there are people out there that don’t like me. There are people out there that I don’t like.  My worth is anchored in the fact that God made me and that I am bought with a price.
   
3. I’m really OK with myself. I know I’m not perfect, but I could be way worse off. God has been good to me, and I’m good with that. End of story.
   
4. When my opinion needs to be changed, I can be persuaded. I need to see the reason why I need to change, though. Whether a good thing or bad thing, I need to see some logic, reasons, or examples, not just your emotions or your opinion.
   
5. I am totally fine disagreeing on something. I’ve been wrong so many times, it’s not even weird anymore. However, I’ve also been right a good deal of the time. Put these together and I am agreeable to disagree… as long as the other party has more proof than emotions.
   
6. I LOVE to be in the know – gossip, drama, fake news – call it whatever you like, I want to know. I have to be very careful not to let this run the show.  This has gotten me in trouble many times. I’ve had to apologize a lot for letting others be in the know when they didn’t need to be.
   
7. I live up to the stereotype of being introverted – I look for reasons to avoid being social. I can be quite social, and I have learned a lot from others about fitting in socially, but it takes a lot of energy to run that charade for any length of time.
   
8. I am guilty of making people earn my respect. This might be a very common thing, but I’m afraid I take it too far. I realized one day that if a certain mentor asked me to cut my arm off to better myself, I’d say, “Which one?” Then I thought of another person, similar position, not in my good graces, that I would hardly acknowledge if they gave me a small piece of good advice.
   
9. I have only recently found this out about myself – I’m considerably more dramatic than I would have thought.  Whether telling stories or trying to make a joke, I am dramatic. Side effect of being married to an extroverted spouse, I guess… HA!
   
10. True & Last confession: I kinda like the spotlight. Not being in the spotlight, mind you – just the wayward beam that finds me for a brief moment and then goes on to another worthy person.

Fellow introverts, stay at home and rule the world.

Blog post written by: Travis Stroup, my husband & favorite introvert

Photo by Benedicto de Jesus on Unsplash