Thread by @seriouslyclara

To my fellow introverts:

You can absolutely be successful without changing who and how you are. You can achieve your goals your own equally viable way. You are not inferior. There are many leaders in the world who are just like you. Change is also possible if YOU want it. 💙

Earlier today, when leaving my Airbnb, a mother was trying to get her young son to go talk to another mom's young daughter. The boy looked terrified, but tried to inch forward. He turned around and said, "I can't, mom. I'm not ready." She shook her head and shoved him forward.

He started getting a little louder and muttered repeatedly that he was nervous and he didn't want to talk right now. Meanwhile, the other parent and child were laughing, I guess thinking this was cute or comical. Eventually, the boy shouted, "NO, MOM!" and began to cry.

The boy's mother tch'ed him and looked at him angrily. "What is WRONG with you?" She turned to the other mother and said, "I'm sorry, he's ALWAYS like this. We're trying to fix that, sorry. Have a nice a day."

All the while, she's holding on to her son with an iron grip, as he's struggling to leave the embarrassing public situation and not show his tear-streaked face. The other mom and daughter laughed as they walked away and the girl turned around: "Mom, he's STILL crying, hahaha!"

The mom was very red and berated her son as she pulled him away - not exactly harsh to most onlookers, but I know that boy's hurt. I only wish I wasn't stupidly concerned about leaving my luggage to run across the foyer and berate HER before she disappeared into the elevator.

That's gonna be a regret I'll have to live with today. As introverts and socially anxious people, we have a hard time expressing ourselves in the moment when pressured into doing something that's outside our comfort levels. This boy was pushed to a breakdown. It's heartbreaking.

All our lives, we've been told we need to fix ourselves if we want to be accepted or normal. It took me years to realize that that's not true. Introverts have unique strengths and we are just as charismatic and powerful as anyone else. We just need to tap into them.

It is 100% OK to take time, say no, or be quiet when there isn't the absolute need to speak. Just because you don't have an answer to a question now doesn't mean you can't come back later with a well-prepared, thought out masterpiece of a solution. You can still dazzle people.

And you WILL dazzle people. Whether that means you CHOOSE to work on the parts of you that you want to change or learn to embrace who you are and the unique qualities you already own. You do not need to be "fixed" and you are certainly not less than. You are whole and capable.

There are many empowering resources online and in books. One quick search just yielded these 3 and they're all fabulous reads. There are also literally billions of other introverts who are both struggling and fully DOMINATING BECAUSE of their introverted qualities.

I know many parents have been educating themselves on how to live with and nurture an introverted child, but incidents like today's still happen so frequently. I can't tell you how important it is to have your parents in your corner as a struggling developing introverted child.

There are resources on raising introverted children as well. I can't personally say how effective they are as I haven't read them nor do I have children of my own, but they're out there. But empathy, open-mindedness, understanding, love, support, acceptance - they go a long way.

I hope this reaches a few eyes and ears that belong to someone struggling or dealing with people struggling to be heard and understood as an introvert. Peace and serenity to you all.