Converted Introvert?

If you're an introvert, is it possible to become less introverted?

We were in the car on the way home from a barbecue at a friends house when Tim told me that I seemed to be less introverted since Shelby came into our lives. It got me thinking.

My daughter, even at just seventeen months old, is so much an extrovert, especially when compared to her mother, but there's no doubt I've been forced out of my comfort zone a lot more in recent months. Shelby is a chatterbox. She says hello to strangers and thrives off interaction with others. She's forced me into a lot of random, nonsensical conversations about things like her shoes, with complete strangers. Her outgoingness has forced open a door inside myself that I didn't know existed.

Don't get me wrong there's no doubt I still struggle with social situations. The difference is I don't seclude myself to a corner for the entire duration of an event. I'm still hyper-aware of what everyone else is doing or saying, but Shelby forces me out of my safe little corner and tosses me into the middle of the party. When you have a toddler who thinks the ladder into the pool looks like an awesome place to play, or that the rocks in someone's pond need relocating, you're forced to your feet to patrol the tiny person.

I'll always be an introvert, but there's no doubt that Shelby has helped to expand my horizons to be a little be less exclusive. I knew when we decided to have a baby that becoming a parent was going to change my life, but I didn't realize just how much my child would end up teaching me, even at just seventeen months old. I love deeper, move faster, and have a zest for life I didn't always have before.

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