Navigating Life As A Quiet Soul
“Do you even have a tongue?” asked a girl from the year below as I stood in between a group of ‘friends’ that I hung out with during lunch break, not saying a word, just listening and smiling.
Fuming at the fact she just asked me this rude question, I glared at her and said loudly, “Oh you bet I do.”
She then proceeds to say, “Oh, I thought you couldn’t speak.”
Throughout my life, I’ve always been described as the ‘shy’ or ‘quiet’ one. My quietness resulted in me not having many friends, and not really trying to make any friends. I was quite content sitting by myself or walking around the playground all alone during break and lunch time during primary school.
As a kid who had not yet found their place in the world, or a place in themselves, I would ask myself questions like, “Is there something wrong with me?” or “Why were all my classmates so bubbly and outgoing and had no problems talking to anyone?” “Why was I so afraid of talking?”
As I grew to be a high schooler and later a university student, I was desperate to to get out of my comfort zone. I wanted to do things that scared me with ease. I wanted to pick up the phone to book a doctor’s appointment for my parents without my heart beating out of my chest. I wanted to present in front the whole class without stumbling over my words. I wanted to go up to a classmate I found cool and put an effort in to be friends.
Now, as an adult in the working world, I am indeed still quiet. But I can now do things that young me would not have even fathomed of being able to do with ease. Over the years, I have gotten better at communicating and expressing my thoughts and opinions. Plus, who says being quiet is a bad thing?
We are usually better listeners.
We have better self-awareness.
We are highly creative.
Our words are powerful.
We usually catch everything around us.
In a world filled with extroverts, being an introvert can definitely feel like a disadvantage. You always get questioned about your quietness, as if you are strange, as if you always have to speak even when you have nothing interesting to add to the conversation. But I have now learned to embrace my quietness. I have embraced the fact that I am content doing things by myself; like eating at a restaurant alone, shopping alone, visiting places I want to see alone.
Truth is, I don’t really need anyone to accompany me, and that’s okay. Being happy alone is better than being with the wrong people.
If we all became extroverts, or if we all became introverts, a lot of things in society wouldn’t work.
When people ask me, “Why are you so quiet?” these days, I reply with, “That’s just who I am.”