Shytrovert Wishes You A Happy April Fools' Day - btw, Do You Have Foot in Mouth Disorder?

 

Happy April Fools’ Day! Today brings to mind that famous Mark Twain quote: "It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.”  In my experience as a Shytrovert, this is true of a lot of people who tend to often contract foot in mouth disease, aka open mouth insert foot.  I and many of my shy and introverted cohorts are not these people. 

Maybe it’s because of my superior impulse control according to experts (sadly, mine does not extend to chocolate, and I may be losing the wine battle as well). 

It has been determined that impulse control has a positive correlation to intelligence and greater life success.  I can see that, since popping off about your boss being a dick at the Christmas party would a) not be too wise, and b) land you on the street without a job.  Hey, that’s a hypothetical, but people have done dumber things!

So, are shy folks and introverted folks lack of yapping off the top of their heads randomly a cause of better impulse control or a crucial characteristic of it?  Well, from what I know of introverts, being one myself, they hold back because they’re thinkers who can appreciate the dire consequences of speaking out of turn.  We have a tougher time recovering from the fallout with our maddening propensity for rumination.

When you have a filter as strong and tightly knit as an introvert's, it's easy to not make a damn fool out of yourself on April 1st or any other time.

So, I’ll put the question out there:  Have you ever said the absolutely wrong thing in a social situation? Something like accusing someone of being so stupid they rode the little yellow bus to attend school when they actually did ride the little yellow bus? This is a true and unfortunate example from my own life-- a former co-worker said this to someone in front of a crowd of people.  No, my co-worker was not an introvert.  Go figure, but we’re not perfect either.  Everybody plays the fool sometime after all.

Nail. Hit. Head. 7 Misconceptions About Introverts from Dr. Irene S. Levine

a.k.a. The Friendship Doctor at http://www.Huffingtonpost.com


Does Dr. Levine know her Introverts or what? Here’s her insightful article lifted from the Huffington Post, one of my favorite sites to lurk in. Enjoy:

We Don’t Like Crowds

Yeah, they suck.

We're Not Antisocial. We don't hate people. We like people, especially people we like. Just not a lot of them all at once. That doesn't make us potential serial killers.


Don’t Tell Us To Smile

Don't make her smile

"People tend to assume that if you're not grinning like an idiot all the time you're unhappy," wrote one reader. "As an introvert I don't always wear my emotions on my sleeve--or on my face."

We Do So Know How to Have Fun

Reading is fun...damental

But it so happens that what you're doing doesn't look like fun to us. See us sitting in an armchair reading? Hiking a quiet mountain trail? Drinking morning coffee in an empty house? That is top-of-the-line fun to us. Oh, and sometimes we have lot of fun watching you all have fun. Really. Go, dance, have a good time. We'll serve punch. We might even smile.

Don’t Try to Drag Us

This time it will be fun, not like the 100 other times you didn't think would be fun...

Especially when you're dealing with adults, you can assume that we already know what we do and don't enjoy. If we say no (and this applies beyond the dance floor) grabbing our arms and whining, "Oh, come on," or "It will be fun," (see above) does not endear you to us.


We’re Quiet Not Dead

How the typical extrovert views the typical introvert

Here's a bone-chilling introvert tale: "I was with a boyfriend at a party once and he and his boss were discussing personality types at the office...Type A, Type B...," wrote a reader. "And then he turned to me and said 'So you are, what, a type D?' 'What do you mean?' 'Well...you are practically comatose here.'"
We Have Personality and Passion

Simma. Down. Now.

We just don't have the need or desire to throw it all out there. If you want to know us, quiet down and see what happens.