What Most People Will Never Understand About Quiet People

What Most People Will Never Understand About Quiet People
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Ever since I was young, I've always been quiet and shy. I think I was born shy. Sure, I had plenty of friends when I was a kid, but I was always known as the "quiet girl" who didn't say too much. Now that I look back, as quiet as I was, I still made friends. No, I didn't have friends coming out of my a**, but it's not like I was anti-social.

My mom would always encourage me to talk to my classmates more, but it wasn't that simple or easy. The reason wasn't because I didn't "feel" like it, it was because I wasn't always comfortable doing it. And, she never understood it either. She was a quiet and shy person as well, but apparently she forgot how it felt because well, now she's a social butterfly.

I've always wanted to be able to talk to whomever I wanted whenever I wanted, but it never worked that way. The more I told myself to do it, the less likely it would happen. In college, I'd often challenge myself to say something in class, one thing, but the days continued to go by without a spoken word. I'd feel utterly disappointed at the end of each class, but I told myself I'd try again tomorrow. But, tomorrow would turn out the same way. People in my class would joke with me and say how quiet I was, but again, they just didn't get it. I would chuckle and say, "ha-ha, I've always been this way..." But, what didn't they understand? Just because I didn't gab and gab like them didn't make me a bad person. I was still a sweet and nice person and talking didn't change who I was as a person, so why were others so bothered by it?

And, even at 26, I still get called "quiet." But, you see, these people have no clue how far I've come. To their surprise, I used to be so quiet that I literally had to clear my throat before I talked. That's when you know someone is quiet when that happens. At my current job, the owner walked past my office and said, "you know, you're the quietest person in this office." I said, "isn't that good thing? I don't stir any drama or chaos." He paused before saying, "I guess" and walks away. But, again, I wish he and others would know being quiet doesn't make me a bad person. I mean, honestly, if I were to vocalize every complaint, problem and issue I had, it would get annoying. Heck, I'd get annoyed listening to myself.

So, this is what you need to know about quiet people:

1. We're not bad people just because we prefer to be alone. At times, we might rather eat lunch by ourselves instead of in a large group of people. We might need our "quiet time."

2. Just because we're quiet doesn't mean we hate you. We may not always talk to you, but it doesn't mean a thing and never forget that.

3. Another thing you must know is just because we're quiet doesn't mean we're miserable people. Most of the time, we have blank looks on our faces because we're thinking, but we're not unhappy with our lives.

4. Sorry, but to be honest, we may not go out of our way to talk or have a conversation with you because we're not used to just opening up. It doesn't mean anything, though; just know it's not always easy.

5. Quiet people are generally thinkers. We tend to think too much about a particular situation. It only means we like to think, plan and access the situation before diving in.

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