Introvert Pride

Introverts are no strangers to getting hurt.  The vast majority of us are affable, friendly folks who enjoy cultivating deep relationships with a select group of people. When one of those individuals hurts us, however, it can be like getting hit by a car traveling in excess of 100 miles per hour, or having a large pile of rocks fall right on top of us. (Okay, maybe not, but you get the point.) We're left blindsided, if not devastated.  When an introvert decides to let you into their circle, consider yourself special. We're usually slow to warm up to people and even slower to build trust in them.  But once you've earned that trust, you've got yourself a friend for life. Someone who has your back in good times and bad. Someone who will be entirely honest without passing judgment. Someone who will cherish you for who you are, even if they may not always agree with you on everything. The problem is that introverts' tendency to do nice things and expect nothing in return...

Many people know of introversion , but they don't have the foggiest idea who came up with the word. Don't feel bad; I didn't know myself until recently. Want to take a stab at it? Here's a hint: It was not Sigmund Freud, though that would make a logical guess. Introversion , the tendency to become preoccupied with one's own thoughts and feelings rather than external stimuli, was popularized by none other than Carl Jung, the Swiss psychoanalyst and psychiatrist who also coined the terms collective unconscious and analytical psychology. Unlike extroverts, who become energized while in the presence of large numbers of people, introverts are inward-oriented. They gain energy from reflection and lose energy in noisy social gatherings.  This in no way implies introverts are misanthropic loners, a common misconception. Misanthropes are those who, put simply, would rather stick a fork in their eye than have to deal with people. They loathe humankind with every fiber in thei...