Introvert Emotional Paradox

[straysweeper]

I am an introvert by nature. I like a lot of self reflection and because of this I am also very reserved in my behaviors. I'm slow to anger, quicker to frustration, but I flash on embarrassment, humiliation, shame spectrum quite easily. I notice I don't see myself as someone that expresses their emotions, or does weird comical things. I've even been known to mute, or change the channel when watching something embarrassing that others do.

I find it a interesting paradox when I think of my most common emotions compared to those I wish to experience. But is the way I see myself, the way I believe about some actions preventing me from feeling the desired emotions, or even progressing the ones I don't? In Unleash The Power Within Seminar by Anthony Robbins, he has you do a lot with your body. I can remember after both my seminars I felt powerful, in control, hopeful, optimistic and more. Only to find that many aspects of this would wane afterwards. Dancing, meeting new people, acting goofy aren't a considered apart of my 'normal behavior'. I can't help but think that it is a part of me that I just happen to smoother?

When I was pursuing health, with eating better, cardio, and even some weight training it felt good. In some ways almost too good not knowing what to do with all the energy it would produce, good portion of which was sexual.

Contrast that with my behavior late, spending hours at the computer, or sleeping, not moving much. I've been to wondering which comes first, the motion or the emotion. The heart can deceive, sometimes telling your emotions to 'shut the **** up' isn't a bad thing?

I'm remembering this quote, I sing because I'm happy, I'm happy because I sing.

[SimonaRich]

You don't have to do something exciting to be happy. You can be happy whilst doing nothing - it is the matter of sorting your mood out. You can do that by thinking positively and meditating. This will make you feel happy from inside.

When you seek happiness from outside, you may get happy but this is always for a short period of time. When you become happy internally, it is almost for ever, unless something really bad happens (but that does not happen often, unless you have been very miserable in the past, and it manifests).

[richardj7]

Originally Posted by straysweeper

I am an introvert by nature. I like a lot of self reflection and because of this I am also very reserved in my behaviors. I'm slow to anger, quicker to frustration, but I flash on embarrassment, humiliation, shame spectrum quite easily. I notice I don't see myself as someone that expresses their emotions, or does weird comical things. I've even been known to mute, or change the channel when watching something embarrassing that others do.

I find it a interesting paradox when I think of my most common emotions compared to those I wish to experience. But is the way I see myself, the way I believe about some actions preventing me from feeling the desired emotions, or even progressing the ones I don't? In Unleash The Power Within Seminar by Anthony Robbins, he has you do a lot with your body. I can remember after both my seminars I felt powerful, in control, hopeful, optimistic and more. Only to find that many aspects of this would wane afterwards. Dancing, meeting new people, acting goofy aren't a considered apart of my 'normal behavior'. I can't help but think that it is a part of me that I just happen to smoother?

When I was pursuing health, with eating better, cardio, and even some weight training it felt good. In some ways almost too good not knowing what to do with all the energy it would produce, good portion of which was sexual.

Contrast that with my behavior late, spending hours at the computer, or sleeping, not moving much. I've been to wondering which comes first, the motion or the emotion. The heart can deceive, sometimes telling your emotions to 'shut the **** up' isn't a bad thing?

I'm remembering this quote, I sing because I'm happy, I'm happy because I sing.

My MBTI (Myers' Briggs) results indicate that I have a "preference" for introverted behavior. Contrary to extraverted behavior where I would re-energize myself being with people, and doing physical activities, I rather re-energize myself by withdrawing from people, and simply relax doing interesting intellectual activities, or simply nothing such as sleeping on a sofa or bed.

Rather than think out loud and test my ideas on others present (like extraverted people), I reflect inside through a flow of images, dialogs, and feeling testing - all inside the head. Extraverted people may perceive me as being non responsive, secretive, even not a team player, but they would be wrong. They only have to ask me or stop talking so that I can interject and contribute. The ideas that come out of my head went through a very logical and thorough process before being presented. I may have turned off to extraverted conversations, because of its haphazard structure and possible fluffiness - my point of view, of course...

I've taken the "Fear into Power" seminar with Robbins in New York, many years ago, where you "walk on fire" to surmount your fears. I took another one-day seminar with him when he came to Montreal, and even had dinner with him and the other organizers.

I've got all his cassettes and CDs. Yes, it's very powerful, and gets even the introverts to act as extraverts...for a while. But, "Le naturel revient au galop" (litteral translation that what is natural to a gallops back to him/her - or even better - "You can take a boy out of the country, but not the country out of the boy".)

Is being "introverted" bad? Nope. It's just different. However, the activities surrounding "success" may be different for an introvert or an extravert. Sometimes, as an introvert I may be need to "act" as an introvert. I do have the capacity to do that, as other people have when they realize it. E-motion can be experienced inside as it can be expressed through language and more expressive non verbal language or body language. Does everybody need to yell out loud to express grief or anger to make the emotion "better" or "more acceptable"? I think not.

The same emotion can be lived differently by different people.

If I'm in business and cannot demonstrate certain personality traits or competencies, I can surround myself with people who do demonstrate them. That is team work. If everyone were the same, it may become boring...