Counseling an Extrovert

Disclaimer regarding introversion and extroversion--I'm not a psychologist.  I've done some reading in the field, but not enough to qualify as an expert.

What I do know is that few people are rarely a total extrovert or total introvert.  It's more of a sliding scale thing.  "Pure" examples are rare, and, since extroverts are more common than introverts, pure introverts are very rare.

But we exist.  I'm almost completely introverted which A) does NOT mean shy and B) doesn't mean I don't like people.  I'm not shy and I like people just fine, so let's clear that up.  I'm just more comfortable dealing with people singly rather than in groups, I don't get close to people very easily, I'm very comfortable with alone time, and dealing with people takes energy.  I know lots of people that I get along with, but I only have three people in my life right now who I would consider close friends, and I'm absolutely okay with this.

I had lunch with a pure extrovert the other day.  He's a great guy and I like him, but he is Mr. People Person.  He's fantastic at group interaction and makes friends very easily, but he NEEDS people to function properly.  He gets bored and lonely very easily if he's not in the middle of the action.  It's not a good thing or a bad thing; we're just wired differently.

And he's married to a sweet lady who's almost as introverted as I am, and it troubles him that she's not more outgoing and doesn't have many friends.  He feels bad for her.  She, of course, is fine.

So he and I talked about the differences and I tried to promote a little understanding.  And he IS a good guy, and I think he may get an inkling.

It's hard for us to understand each other, but we need to make the effort.

You strange extroverted types, you.

God bless, friends.