what kind of vert are you?

as i was perusing articles this afternoon on time.com, i found one headline that really peaked my interest - "don't call introverted children 'shy'".  most likely, as i feel it has to do with myself as a child.  believe it or not, i was designated as one of the "shy" kids, even "painfully shy"...i had to visit the school counselor twice a week in elementary school in order to convince me to raise my hand in class!

whether to the benefit or detriment of the world we may never know, but i have seemingly grown out of this phase and become what society would consider an extrovert.  at least, that's what it looks like to the outsider. 

but i wondered: am i really? 

sure.  i love to talk.  i love people.  i love mingling, i get energized in social situations, love conquering large rooms full of folks i've never met, and have little to no anxiety when it comes to introducing myself to strangers and opening up.  i (unfortunately) don't usually think before i speak, i have little need for personal space, and generally prefer to be in the company of someone else rather than alone.

but then there's the rest of me.  the me who dislikes chatting on the telephone.  the me who prefers one on one conversation to large groups.  the me who enjoys quietly reading a book on a saturday night rather than going out with groups of friends.  the me who prefers to work out in silence rather than chatting with someone else.  the me who prefers to communicate important matters via email rather than confronting them in person (i feel i communicate better that way).  the me who really, seriously, hates conflict.

and so i wondered...what type of -vert am i?  am i an extrovert, as i may seem?  or is the introversion i was born with still taking up a large part of my adult self?

after reading the article (link above), i took this quiz (link here...click!). 

while taking it, i was pretty sure i could discern which answers would indicate that i was an introvert versus an extrovert, and i thought i had landed squarely in the middle. 

well, i was wrong :) 

my results, i'm sure to the surprise of very few, looked like this:

Quiz Completed

There are no fixed scores, since both introversion and extroversion fall along a continuum, with many people—known as ambiverts—falling somewhere in between. According to your answers, you are likely to be an extrovert

so, there we go (according to this quiz).  apparently, i am more an outlier (apparently, most folks who take the quiz are somewhere in the middle) than i had originally thought!

not to say that there aren't areas of introversion built into my personality...but the extroverted portion of myself quickly developed and overwhelmed my introverted youth.  and i'm o.k. with that.  even happy for it.

what are you!?  take the quiz, and let me know :)