Anybody who knows me would probably call me an Extrovert. I'm a wee bit outgoing. So this article has been floating around Facebook and I finally broke down and read "6 Things Every Extrovert Secretly Has To Deal With" - thinking that it'd be cool to hear what I secretly deal with. Turns out it was a load of crap.

Out of the 6 things the author lists, only 1 - Number 5 - Craving the company of others - is one that I identify with. That one's true - I do get energized by being around other people - whoa, what a burden right? The others are BS.

• People will assume you're flirting: Really? Seriously? That's a problem for you? Is that just a humblebrag about how good looking you are or what?
• You're not allowed to be sad: Um, yeah you are. If you're actually around people who care about you, they won't expect you to be cheery when you're not.
• You're expected to keep the conversation going: That's an expectation you put on yourself. Get over it.
• Being labeled as shallow or unintellectual because you’re not an introvert: Look, if you're an extrovert, chances are you're talking alot. I think the only way people will think you're shallow or unintellectual is because you're giving them plenty of evidence.
• People will assume you are always confident: Again, not if you're open and honest with your friends.

So my own that I'd add to the list is that being an extrovert doesn't mean you have to come off as some sort of circus barker or insincere - if you're scared of that, chances are you're those things all on your own, extrovert or not.

Couple other thoughts - no charge - the article was written by a 22-year old. Now 22-year olds can be brilliant and insightful but if we're going to stack some folks up against people like Susan Cain who went to a couple little schools called Princeton and Harvard, was a practicing attorney and has written a well-recieved book -we might want to look a little harder.

Finally, the reason why I think introverts are getting so much attention is not that extroversion is the norm - it's not -it is the IDEAL. We are expected from childhood on up, to be outgoing and gregarious - if we're not - then clearly something like "shyness" is to be "dealth with" and fixed. So yeah, as an extrovert, I count myself lucky to be on this side and yes, I do think extroverts have it easier and I'm all for raising awareness of intorverts and the way they experience the world to better understand their struggles.