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?
Yep, I'm an introvert now. Didn't used to be but then rheumatoid arthritis arrived and I had to go from Type A personality to Type B pretty quick. It's taken 21 years to get here and sometimes it still doesn't work. My brain says, "Let's do this - you know how. I'm rarin' to go!" then the body says, "Don't even try or you'll regret it!" Sometimes I listen to myself and sometimes I just do something and regret it. lol
ReplyDeleteNow I can't handle a lot of noise or a lot of people - they drain my energy just like it does for you. And I need a lot of recharge time.
Interesting about your extra nerve. Did the doctor say if there was a name attached to the medical condition?
Nope! Nothing useful like that, lol!
DeleteOh, and an eye-doctor prescribed extra-strong sunglasses, too. Said my eyes were especially sensitive to light.
Yes but I am also shy around people I don’t know. That comes from moving a lot while growing up and having a mom who was social inept which is part of the reason we moved around a lot. Books were my refuge. My oldest sister taught me to read when she was in first grade and by the time I was 5, I could be found in the neighbours garage, reading their boxes of comic books. I also have extra nerves in my teeth including extra roots in my molars and that’s lead to some crazy experiences at the dentist. I’m glad you’ve found your place in life.
ReplyDeleteWe moved around a lot when I was young, too. It actually made me good at making one best friend really quickly! But yeah, books were my refuge too. I used to read in the bathroom at night. One time, my mom called in after me, "I know you're reading in there!" "So what?" I thought to myself. "I don't really care, if you're not going to do anything."
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