PERKS OF BEING AN INTROVERT

By: Hajar Fatini

After reading this lifehack's article (click this link to read further), I can relate myself with some of the points stated. Even though there's a certain part in that article which I disagree. 1) Socially awkward 2) quiet and 3) shy (this usually happens when I am in a big crowd; menghadirkan diri dalam mana-mana program besar). These three personalities really describe me well. Takpun, aku selalu je dengar orang kata, "Kau ni muka sombong la" atau yang seangkatan dengannya.

Aku tak kisah sebenarnya apa orang nak cakap, because I know myself, I know my own limit. Sebab hakikatnya, orang-orang seperti aku ni cuba je untuk blend in dengan orang (for the sake of knowledge, networking and sharing experience perlu kuatkan diri jugak untuk lawan rasa malu tu dan bercakap). We, introverts try our best to break the barrier. But yeah, the struggle is real. Bukan senang weh. Orang lain tak rasa, they're not in our shoes. Kadang-kadang boleh blank bila tengah berborak, taktahu nak reply apa (ni serious aku tak tipu). So there goes a "long-silence-pause-awkward" moment 😂 (So if you see myself attending a programme or seminars, me meeting new people, being a facilitator or what, buat presentation kat depan kelas, that's actually me stepping outside of my comfort zone. Untuk orang lain, mungkin ini hal remeh dan perkara kecil, but as for me, aku perlukan masa untuk kutip cebis-cebisan kekuatan sebelum buat perkara-perkara ni. I know that I have to do this so that I can grow myself, having wider perspectives about life, learn through experience and gathering the knowledge).

Kau tahu, aku boleh jadi berdebar, gugup and nervous kalau ada orang buat phone call (kecuali kalau dengan family then it's okay). The term being called is 'phone-reluctant person'. Sebab tu aku lebih suka communicate through texting. Walau kena tulis panjang-panjang, aku lebih rela. And and sometimes, it's very hard to make eye-contact with people. I don't know why, perasaan tu memang macam tu haha.


Adakalanya, perasaan cemburu tu pernah jugak hadir. "How I wish I can be like the person over there. Very friendly, mudah mesra with whoever they met, out-going kind of person and very funny." Orang yang kelakar ni kan selalunya sangat loveable. Waktu tu, mulalah rasa rendah diri, useless dan rasa diri ni seorang yang sangat membosankan.

Sejujurnya, aku tahu, tak elok sangat kalau melebih-lebih sangat melayan sisi introvert ni. Hamka pun ada pesan, jangan jadi orang yang 'banyak membaca buku tetapi kaku dalam masyarakat' (Peribadi karya Hamka). Cuma kadang-kadang, no matter how hard we've tried, we cannot be like the person over there. Jadi kita kena tahu, ada waktu-waktu tertentu, kita memang perlu bercakap dan menyapa orang lain. And you know yourself, where are your limits. Jangan jadi orang lain sampai memakan diri. We can still be ourselves. Know your potential. Quote yang aku pegang sebagai prinsip ialah:

       "You will not always be the smartest person in the room, you will not always be the strongest or the funniest or the most talented. But you can always be brave and always be kind, and these are the things you should be every minute of every day for the rest of your life. Because yes, those other things, they're great things. But these things are better."

Tulisan kali ini sekadar mahu meraikan diri dan sahabat-sahabat yang merasakan diri mereka introvert, where they usually feel that they're useless, low self-esteem and cannot contribute much to the society. But don't be okay? Extrovert ada kelebihan mereka, introvert juga ada cara tersendiri untuk bantu masyarakat. We have our own ways to reach out to the society. It can be through arts, writing, drawing or being a good listener (because introverts don't talk much, that's why they prefer to listen to other people's stories and feelings) and so on.

I hope this piece of writing inspires you to be proud of who you are, either you are an introvert or extrovert 😁

*ps: Sorry if the points are messy, here and there. I just simply write what I felt. For those yang membaca sehingga habis, I'd like to thank you guys. Appreciate it so much 😁

*Artikel ini telah dikongsi di FB penulis, Hajar Fatini Ismail