Extraverts, It’s Okay to Rest

Being an extravert is challenging. I’m not complaining, just exploring out loud, which is part of extraversion.

When I think or feel something, I feel more alive if I have shared it with someone — especially someone who will mirror or appreciate or engage with me in a meaningful way. But as meaningful as that sharing can be, it takes energy. And it can be tiring. Despite my natural tendencies as a extravert, I have cultivated intraversion since I was around 35 so that I can keep my own company in silence for hours and feel complete. But in the furthest reaches of my Me-ness, I have a voice and I want to be heard.

This is especially tricky for me in the age of social media. I can extravert myself into just plain exhaustion. So instead, I am researching more and more rest and finding it, well, quiet and peaceful.

But the extravert in me wanted to write a blog about it, no matter how short. And my intravert said, “You don’t need to tell the Facebook Sangha that you are resting.” But my extravert said, “Yeah, I want to.  Maybe other extraverts out there are tired and need permission to rest.”

Maybe nobody is even listening … hmm.

Naw.  Impossible.

So if you are out there, an extravert searching for a way to engage, you have found it. Now rest.