You're at a party:  Everyone is dancing

but there is a person hiding in the corner, alone to themselves.  Creepy right?  This is the person that probably is going to stab someone, a person who is the outcast here.  Why are they here?

Truth is, this person, along with a quarter of the world, is an introvert.  They were dragged to this party by their friends.  Their friends said that they need to come out to this party, they need to open themselves to the world.  But this person would rather just be at home, cuddled up with their favorite book or movie.  This party is not the place this person wants to be, and being out among a group of strangers is extremely hard for this person.

Welcome to the world of being introverted.

Although being the person that is near the back of the party, the quiet person to them self, may seem a little lame and would be a terrible place for some people.  Truth is; for introverted people, it's by design.  I, myself, am an introvert and would much rather spend a night with myself, doing things I want to do, then spend the night out in a group of party-goers.  Yes some people do disagree with Eric Carmen and do indeed want to be all by themselves.

 

 Being all by yourself isn't always a bad thing.  Even for the utmost extroverted person, being surrounded by people will eventually wear you down.  After all, everyone has to have some time to themselves to just sit back and process a little.  For introverts, however, it is a lot more time.  I would be perfectly pleased if I spent every day with zero human interaction, but that's just not possible.  Don't get me wrong, I don't hate social interaction and am not a total loner, but even those friends that I have had for years can get old very quickly.  The best way I can describe it is: the preferred form of "hanging out" for myself (as well as many other introverts) is short bursts of hanging out with a couple friends or some family.  That's about it.  That's how introverts function best.  Most of my days off are just that; being alone, doing the activities I want to do.  Yes I might go to lunch with someone or something of that sort, but I'm never the one to initiate it.        

  

SO HOW DO INTROVERTS HAVE ANY FUN?

Well, truthfully we like to spend time alone, so most of the activities we enjoy most, are activities we can do alone.  I, personally, love to do many things that only require one person.  I actually taught myself how to juggle, solder, solve rubik's cubes, and many other things that I was interested in.  But the main thing I do, has to be playing video games.  I know that a lot of people play video games, but I mean REALLY playing games, and I have been for a long long time.  Yes I know that it really doesn't matter much, and games truly are a waste of time if you think about it.  But just like any other hobby, it's something to keep oneself occupied and there isn't anything wrong in that.  One of my favorite quotes comes to mind, that from John Lennon; "Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time."  Which is very true.  If you enjoy wasting the time, can it really be considered "wasted"?  But that's just me.  Other introverts might find fun in the arts or sewing or plenty of activities one can do alone.  Whitney Hoard, a student at local college, is a self-proclaimed "introvert" and she says that she likes to listen to music, play piano and guitar, reading, and eating... but the main thing is she likes to be alone and actually needs to be alone every once in a while in order to "recharge her batteries."  The main thing though, is introverts have a common interest in their alone time.  There's nothing wrong in that and it's just the lifestyle they prefer.

IS THERE ANY BENEFITS TO BEING INTROVERTED?

Actually there are!  Introverts process of thinking is actually a lot different than that of an extroverted person.  Introverted people tend to listen to what they are being told and step back and think about it before replying.  Which actually helps introverts a lot in keeping their foot out of their mouth, because they like to think about things before speaking.  Also it makes introverted people lot better listeners, which is is another positive.  Also because introverts are more reserved and quiet, they tend to be more calm while extroverted people tend to be more anxious.  But the list of positives doesn't end there!  Introverts are less likely to go stir crazy and are contempt with just quiet contemplation, which makes them easier to get along with than someone who constantly needs needs to be on the go.  Also because they aren't in need of stimulation by loud noises and excitement, they certainly make better roommates and neighbors.  The best for last.  Introverts actually learn in a different way than extroverted people do.  Their mind just functions differently, and it shows.  According to Jim Sollisch, "about 25 percent of the population are introverts, but as many as 60 percent of the gifted children are introverts."  Which obviously is a major positive to the introvert.  

With all these positives though, there comes some negatives.  Introverts obviously have a very hard time adapting to new groups of people, which makes it very hard to make new friends.  Introverts are generally the social pariah, and normally are the easiest ones to poke fun at, because most likely they won't fight back.  Also, obviously someone who is a little louder and is more willing to put themselves forward generally make better leaders.  But not all great leaders are extroverts mind you, but they generally have a greater voice as a leader (or at least a louder one).  So really being an introvert or an extrovert, has its positives and its negatives.  Ultimately it's up to the person to figure out which lifestyle they prefer.  Which for most people is very obvious, because you're born either an introvert or an extrovert and you don't really get to choose.  You can pretend that you're of the other personality, but ultimately this is a really hard thing to do and, in my opinion, isn't the best decision.  Just be who you are.

So the person quietly sitting at the back of the party isn't creepy, they are just introverted and are extremely out of their element.  No need to hate on them, or poke fun, they are just waiting to leave the party and get back to what they truly want to do; be home by themselves.  They look forward to being by themselves again, just like some may have looked forward to the party.  Introverts are awesome and shouldn't be forgotten, even though they like to put themselves aside.  They didn't chose to be introverted, they just are.  It's totally fine to be out of your element in groups of people, just like it's totally fine that some people are at their best in groups of people.  It's just who they are and they can't change that.  Ultimately the idea is to be happy with who you are, introverted or not, that's whats most important.