23 Signs that you’re an introvert

1. You find small talk incredibly cumbersome. (My friends have a tendency to engage in lengthy conversations with complete strangers ... people in check-out lines, people at bus stops. Who DOES that???)
 

2. You go to parties -– but not to meet people.  (Actually, I generally only go to family events, and that's because there's always cake ... and small children to play with.)

3. You often feel alone in a crowd.  (It would be great if Coldwater Creek or Chico's sold invisibility cloaks for those pesky times you need to be in public.)

4. Networking makes you feel like a phony. (Can I tell you how many Linked In invites I’ve refused?  That would be all of them.)

5. You've been called "too intense." (I can be passionate about certain things, but for the most part I'm inherently lazy.)

6. You're easily distracted.  (In our family we call it the “oh look, a duck” syndrome)

7. Downtime doesn’t feel unproductive to you.  (Well, yes, but that’s because staring into space on the verandah in the afternoon is actually “problem solving”.)

8. Giving a talk in front of 500 people is less stressful than having to mingle with those people afterwards.  (You can make it 1,000 as long as I get to walk offstage and directly into a waiting car afterwards.)

9. When you get on the subway, you sit at the end of the bench -– not in the middle. (I'm the person who spreads the entire contents of her life around her so NO one will sit nearby.)

10. You start to shut down after you’ve been active for too long.  (“It’s time for my nap....” is my mantra.)

11. You're in a relationship with an extrovert. (I do tend to surround myself with people who could easily hold advanced degrees from clown college. It takes the pressure off me, you see.)

12. You'd rather be an expert at one thing than try to do everything. (I am a uni-tasker par excellence.)

13. You actively avoid any shows that might involve audience participation.  (I’ve walked out of restaurants when birthday cakes held by singing waiters approached my table.  And all family members have had to sign a "No surprise parties under any circumstances" clause, which includes quashing any that might be planned by well-meaning friends.)

14. You screen all your calls -- even from friends.  (If by screening you mean I dislike answering the telephone when it rings then, yes.)

15. You notice details that others don't. (Which makes for conversations that are so circuitous and labyrinthian, it's a wonder I ever voice a complete thought!? Or as my neighbor likes to say, 'One of us has to remember what we were talking about...')

16. You have a constantly running inner monologue.  (Actually, “inner” would be kind.... I talk out loud to myself pretty much constantly when I’m in the house and garden. This is why God invented pets.)

17. You have low blood pressure. (And a body temperature that barely hits 96 and a pulse that would encourage a mortician to stay late at work.)

18. You’ve been called an “old soul” -– since your 20s.  (Try six.)

19. You don't feel "high" from your surroundings. (Unless I’m in my garden!)

20. You look at the big picture. (My nickname amongst some friends is Switzerland.... but I think seeing both sides and playing devil's advocate is a GOOD thing.)

21. You’ve been told to “come out of your shell.”  (I am so content being a stay-at-home, I think if someone yelled FIRE, I would actually stop for a moment to contemplate whether I wanted to leave the house.)

22. You’re a writer.  (Whenever I can....)

23. You alternate between phases of work and solitude, and periods of social activity. (Cleaning out the back gutters, “problem solving” on the verandah [see No. 7 above], and then tea in the garden with a neighbor... what’s not to love?)

Can I have an AMEN, sister?

Carry on.

["23 Signs that you're an introvert" from the Huffington Post]