Oprah Winfrey, extrovert
I’m not just an extrovert, I’m an extreme extrovert. I love mixing and mingling with new people. Strangers are just friends I haven’t yet met. I particularly adore meeting introverts because I find them so entertaining: I like the way their faces turn colors when I look them in the eye and ask them direct questions.
It’s true that my “special quiet friends” are great listeners, and they may benefit from thinking first rather than flinging themselves into every situation. But when I read in this Forbes article that introverts have “secret powers,” I have to remind the world that extroverts have their own abilities too.
Why? Because extroverts like getting in the last word.
1. Our thrill-seeking temperaments benefit society.
Extroverts prefer novelty to the same-old, same-old. Although we may look like thrill-seeking, risk-taking adrenaline junkies to our introverted friends (and compared to them, we absolutely are), when we hop on a plane to a foreign country or walk away from a bar with five phone numbers, we’re not just looking for adventure: we’re actually bolstering our emotional well-being. According to the New York Times, novelty seeking “fosters personality growth as you age.” Extroverts don’t just get older. We get better.
The Times goes on to say that because we’re like new experiences and are socially deft, “you get the kind of creativity that benefits society as a whole.”
Damn, we’re awesome.
2. We’re easily bored…and that can lead to innovation.
The downside to thrill seeking is that we’re easily bored. Extroverts crave newness, and monotonous routines are like nails on the blackboard of our souls. But when our minds wander—and they always do—we can find entertaining ways to keep our thoughts occupied. As a writer, I use the time I spend doing dishes to think about my next assignment, because, ya know, I would never think about dishes.