A Change in Personality?

I got to thinking about a change in personality. I think that happened to me. No, I’m not talking about bipolar disorder or multiple personalities. I am talking about one’s personality changing as they grow older. Let me explain.

As a kid, I was outgoing and gregarious, always ready to meet new friends. In fact, I met all the kids for my brother and me. I liked to perform Spice Girls songs and never missed a school talent show. I would definitely say I was an extrovert. There was no stage I didn’t love and I thrived being with others.

This changed after puberty. In fact, I attribute it to puberty. I will not be getting into that on here, as you’ll understand after reading this blog post. But something inside me changed. I started to withdraw from being the center of attention and finding friends became harder than ever. I enjoyed spending time alone (writing, reading, doing other introverted things) to time with friends and just people in general. Writing helped me express all that angst I was too afraid to say after my personality turned introverted. Hence, I am still a writer. And you know what? I am shy. I am okay with that, too.

What happened? Everything, really. But I’ve learned that we can change dramatically as we get older. And this doesn’t have to be a negative thing. It’s okay that I don’t flock to crowds and have trouble meeting people; it’s okay that I am shy and introverted. I get my energy from myself: writing, reading, listening to music, having a glass of wine with my boyfriend and/or family. This is me. And I won’t apologize for changing. I love myself. It took me years to fully recognize that I could love a different person, but I did. And you can, too. It’s okay to be introverted and shy. Just be yourself and be kind. Any change is okay in that.

Listen to a sad song

I got to thinking about happiness. Where do you get happiness? Can you build it? Business Insider seems to think so. And I agree. For those of you who know my daily reading habits, Business Insider is close to the top of the list (that list also includes my guilty but completely legitimate pleasure that is Usmagazine.com). I haven’t always been Miss Happy, so I am constantly looking for ways to improve my mood, to be happy. And something in the article I read today really resonated: listen to a sad song. I do this constantly. If I feel down or even completely demolished, I listen to my emo music. Or sometimes angry music. And it works! It really, really works! It’s almost like it gives me the hope to feel better; things could be worse. And there are other people out there with me. I am certainly not alone and have every power in my being to slowly fall out of the sadness track that I am running on. At least that’s what I get from sad songs.

What do you get? Do you agree?

Here’s the link: http://www.businessinsider.com/simple-ways-to-improve-your-mood-according-to-psychologists