I need?space

don't we all?

I don't know you, but I consider myself a social introvert; able to fit, adapt and entertain any type of crowd and any type of personality, but with the inherent need to stay alone afterward to recharge “my batteries”.

I understand that I live in two worlds; the one inside my head and the one outside. With time, I learned to juggle between one and the other for the sake of life balance… let me explain using more visual terms!

My “introvert side” pushes me day and night to choose comfort over any outing initiatives. Here, when I talk about comfort, I talk about preparing myself a cup of tea during winter and staying at home watching a movie either alone or with family. When I talk about comfort, I talk about this sense of peace and relaxation you get when you’re surrounded by people you loved all your life over the willingness to go out to make new connections. Not to take it to the extreme of things but it is fairly true to say that the world inside my head puts mental limitations on my range of initiatives.

My “social part” pushes me to go out more and meet people, not because of a need to do it to fight boredom, nor because I have a constant fear of missing out on things, events, and occasions but because I know that personal and professional opportunities are created when you’re thrown out there into the wild. The world outside my head is an uncomfortable world where pain, frustration, and stress are predominant, but where I can also count on surprises, enlightening experiences, and financially enriching opportunities.

Remember when I talked about the need to recharge my batteries at the beginning of the article? Well, this is kind of vital for me if I want to keep going out and meet new people. That’s where the balance between the two worlds comes in. Extroverts need outside interactions to keep their mind busy, introverts need silence and moments alone for their mind to breathe. Extroverts have the tendency to abuse the “going out part”, introverts are prone to seclude themselves from society.

But as we all know too well; The extreme of anything in life is detrimental to its good side.

Needing my space is good, needing it too much is bad. I spent a big part of my life choosing alone moments over active environments, which I would qualify as quality time any day of the week. But unfortunately, I learned with maturity that the longer “quality time” stays uninterrupted the shorter the emotional and financial long-term yield (if that makes sense).

If you’re looking for growth potential, the comfort zone is a devil in disguise.

If you’re looking for stagnation, the comfort zone is your best friend.

Result of the story, I am constantly fighting my inner proclivity to choose silence over noise and retreat over exposure for the sake of balance and opportunity.

Be like?Jon

Published August 23, 2021 on Medium