I am often the life of a party. Not socially anxious in any way, I can tell stories and jokes like the best of them.
But after any social gathering, I need time alone to recover.
A lot of time.
I've always spent hours alone: mostly reading, but also watching TV. And since the late 90s, surfing the Internet. I adore Facebook. It's got all the pluses of a party without the minuses.I can keep up with my friends and family at my own pace, when I'm ready, sort of like an independent-study class!
I LOVE working from home. LOVE IT. Most of my current job involves talking on the phone. At home, away from coworkers' chit chat, I can handle that for four hours each weekday. I even enjoy it. In an office, I would have to hide in my car during break, to recover.
I tried for thirty years to be a good teacher. I love watching kids' faces light up when they 'get it.' My biggest hero for years was Mrs. Ryan, the teacher who taught me to read. I wanted to be just like her when I grew up.
***
But being around thirty or more kids
all day drained my energy too much. I was fine till around 10 am. After that, the kids got the better of me! I had no energy to keep them on task. I barely had time to grade papers each evening before I feel asleep, exhausted.
I wish I had known before I applied for teacher training that:
1) Teachers need to be extroverts.
and
2) I am an introvert.
well, also
3) English teachers have more papers to grade than anyone else!
I also wish this book had been around when I was in my teens. It explains why I'm an introvert! The short version: I have extra nerves. No, really. A dentist discovered an extra nerve in my tooth during a root canal. These extra nerves make me extra sensitive. And extra weary. Suseptible to over-stimulation.
Another symptom of having extra nerves:
Caffeine keeps me awake for a staggering 8-12 hours. Now that I have to get up at 4:30 am to get ready to drive my husband to work, I have to stop drinking Coke Zero at 9am. Otherwise, I just toss and turn in bed.
So, are you an introvert, too?
