It's odd, but somewhere along the line I did an almost 180 degree shift in this regard. I used to be very shy, and would never really express how I felt about things, wasn't really affectionate with anybody, not even my family. I blame this on insecurities I had, and it was like I felt trapped, thinking that this is not
me. I just wasn't comfortable saying the things that I was feeling and thinking about because I didn't "sense" it in my environment. It's like the things in my head weren't "normal," when really it's just that I tend to look for deeper meanings to things. It was like I was going to be imposing something new to my environment/people, was going to stand out, and I didn't like it... I didn't want to come off as weird, which is why I didn't say/do anything. Sometimes having people initiate things, like talk about something deep or ask you to do something, doesn't really help you grow in confidence, because it's like you're feeding off of them in a way. I think that for EIIs the problem is in eliminating the illogical fear of "taking up space," because you might be contributing something that is very important and that might be appreciated. It's having something in your mind and releasing it, without having any validation in the environment that it is going to be accepted, and getting over the fear of imposing something "out there," that will definitely cause a reaction, be it good or bad to the other people. This has always been my inner demon, and the more I make it a point to initiate and simply "express," the better I feel.
I remember that when I was kid I used to think about death for example, and I never talked about it with my parents or friends, because I thought that it was going to depress them. I've never liked to affect people's moods negatively, without a regard to my own "needs" I guess. This made me mentally stronger, but it trapped me in some kind of mental block. Getting to some kind of point here (
), I can simply say that the best thing that someone could do to me, even though it's not an easy path, is to help me reach my goal of extroverting my "inner world," and really that's my goal in life. I want to be entirely connected to the things happening around me, have my presence felt, and have control over it. It's a work in progress, but I think I've made substantial improvements from my early days. This is why it repulses me in a way when I read Socionics duality articles in how you just depend completely on the other person for things. I want to grow, I don't want to have someone cover my weaknesses... Sure, I'd be comfortable, but I bet I'd be happier in developing my strengths and weaknesses.
Originally Posted by jewels
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