IS THERE SOMETHING WRONG WITH ME?

I am an introvert. Nearly everyone that hears this from me for the firs time laughs because they think I am joking. But it’s true. Those who know me well have learned this about me.

I need a lot of time for quiet and for reflection. If my time is saturated with meetings, people and conversations I become agitated and anxious. I build my schedule in a way to accommodate this, because I’m not fun to be around when I’m agitated.

There have been times when I have felt (or been made to feel) that my being an introvert was not a good thing. As a pastor some think that I always have to be “on” and willing to meet with as many people as possible when they want to meet.

There have been days where I have felt deficient and struggled with how I am wired. Thankfully over the last several years friends and fellow leaders have come around me to affirm who I am and encourage me to remain healthy. Their words and care for me have enabled me to be at a healthier place than I have ever been.

In all of this I have learned that there are many other extroverts who feel the same way I did. They feel like they are not doing enough, that they can never find the quiet they need and often feel like they do not have a place to fit.

Thankfully, Adam S. McHugh wrote an encouraging and helpful book titled Introverts in the Church: Finding Our Place in an Extroverted Culture. If you have ever felt less than, not needed or discouraged it is well worth the read.

He recently did an interview on InterFaith Radio. You can listen here. Perhaps if you do, you will realize that there is, in fact, nothing wrong with you at all.