Introversion – Part 1

Recently, I discovered that I’m developing a desire to know and understand introverts. Not only to understand myself, but to be able to help introverts around me, and also to be able to help extroverts understand introverts–especially in how it relates to Christian community. I wrote out the following paragraphs and then came back and typed up this introduction because I realized that there is an opportunity with this topic to not only challenge myself to continue to process my thoughts through written form, but also to challenge others. For this reason, I’m going to attempt to publish more in the future (hence the “Part 1″). I have no idea when Part 2 will be released, but you can pray that it happens sooner than later. I also included questions at the bottom to help make this material more applicable to you–whether you are an introvert or an extrovert.

Let me begin by letting you know where some of my ideas have been coming from, and also what is fueling this desire in me to learn more about introversion. I’ve already read The Introvert Advantage: How to Thrive in an Extrovert World (loved it), and I’m currently working through Introverts in the Church: Finding Our Place in an Extroverted Culture (written from the perspective of an introverted pastor). I’ve also got The Introverted Leader: Building on Your Quiet Strength sitting on my shelf waiting to be read.

Something that my brain has been working through recently is the idea that introverts can be abused in relationships, but, also can be the abusers. It’s very easy for one-way relationships to develop as introverts tend to be excellent listeners. This can create a situation where extroverts, typically, can be abusing an introvert by always making themselves the center of attention (sometimes the extrovert may not even be aware that they are doing this). There are other ways for introverts to be abused beyond just the one-way relationship, but I don’t have a strong enough grasp on those concepts yet to go into those (part 2 maybe?)

Introverts can also abuse others by becoming selfish with their energy. I’ve personally found that I can be found guilty of abusing the “need to recharge” at times, in order to ignore developing relationships that may not be easy to do. While it is important for me, and all introverts, to set aside time to recharge, it’s equally as important we are involved in other’s lives. Certainly there are some people who are more introverted than others, and each one of us has a different sized “energy tank,” but I believe it’s our tendency to not try and see just how far we can go before our tank runs dry. In car, it’s a bad idea to run out of fuel, but introverts aren’t cars. We are people. And I think our “energy tank” can be more appropriately compared to muscles in our body. Certainly, our muscles have limits, but if we work them and strain them, they will develop more and more stamina. I think the same concept applies to introversion. If we choose to push our energy limits, our “tank” can grow larger–or we can learn to burn the fuel more efficiently. We also can’t leave God out of this. He is fully capable of providing us with energy reserves that we cannot access through our own human power.

If you’re feeling abused in a relationship, there is no better way to handle it than with prayer and boldness. Pray that God will give you choice words, and then be bold and discuss the problem with the other party in the relationship. If you feel you are abusing another, you need to apologize. Prayer also needs to be involved as you ask God to grant you the necessary energy to love the other person.

Introverts:

• What relationships in your life are you abusing?
• What relationships do you feel you are being abused in?

Extroverts:

• Same questions apply to you, as to the introverts.

I’m certainly stumbling my way through all this, and it’s by no means wholly accurate. I encourage you to offer your thoughts and opinions regarding what I’ve written about above, whether through written form, or in a verbal discussion.

Wednesday’s Thunderstorm

Wednesday night, Midland went under a severe thunderstorm warning around 10:30pm. At about 9:30pm, I had gone out to try and take some pictures of the lightning. I was able to get some pretty good pictures (as shown below), before the wind suddenly kicked up. Any, and all, loose dirt on the ground was blowing everywhere. I had been taking pictures near MCA, and so I drove under the canopy of the pickup area in front of the Grammar school building. After the top-layer of dirt and blown away, the wind stayed strong. The rain then came in about 10:55pm was when the hail started. It was pretty incredible how much came down, as well as the size. Official spotters within the city reported various sizes, including .75″ and even 1″ diameter hail.

Here are the best pictures I got of the lightning:

Here is a video that I captured with my iPhone while taking shelter under a metal shelter. The hail was deafening (as you can hear in the audio), but I was able to capture a sweet lightning strike. I would suggest turning down the volume on your computer before pressing play.

You can view the radar loop from Wednesday and see the storm really get ugly about 10pm.

Texas Budget Irony

I took this screenshot of two headlines from mywesttexas.com. The first story is about how the City of Midland is choosing to reward the Sports & Entertainment Association of Midland for burning through their $135,000 budget in eight months by giving them even more money to burn. The second story highlights the state having an $18 billion deficit. While not necessarily directly related, it’s poor financial decisions like these that have helped lead us into our current state of financial difficulty.

Links to original stories:

http://mywesttexas.com/articles/2010/05/12/news/top_stories/council.txt

http://mywesttexas.com/articles/2010/05/12/news/top_stories/texas_18_billion_budget_shortfall.txt

Places I Want to Photograph

Due to my current location of residence, much of my photography has been done in a rural environment. After my visit to Albuquerque, I’ve been inspired to try and do more in an urban setting. For this reason, I have decided to attempt, in 2010, to spend a day or two photographing the following places:

• Albuquerque, NM
• Austin, TX
• San Antonio, TX

I’ve also never been to Austin nor San Antonio, so it would give me an opportunity to experience those cities–and my experience in Albuquerque was also limited in terms of urban exposure.

Feel free to keep me accountable to this goal.

Midland -> Albuquerque

My friends Charles, Ashley, and myself went to Albuquerque, NM Friday evening through Sunday. Ashley’s family lives there, so we got lots of great (free) food and company. Saturday morning, the three of us, along with Ashley’s parents hiked the La Luz Trail. About halfway up, a park ranger informed us that there was still a lot of snow on the trail farther ahead, and he didn’t recommend we proceed. We didn’t really want to turn back, so on we went. The snow did get pretty bad, and for about two miles, the entire trail was often completely covered in snow (it was hard sometimes to see where the trail was). Some of the switchbacks were so bad, we just chose to scale straight up the hill instead. I owe mad-props to Mr. & Mrs. Britt for climbing that. I can only hope I can do such things when I’m their age. I live in Midland which is 2,800ft above sea level. We started hiking at 7,000ft, and finished at 10,000ft. Needless to say, I could definitely feel the elevation while hiking.

After reaching the top of the trail (about 7 miles), we hiked another mile (over much flatter terrain) to the Sandia Park Tramway where we enjoyed a well deserved lunch at the High Finance Restaurant on top of the mountain. We then rode the tram down the mountain (which is the longest aerial tram in the world).

The rest of the day was spent recovering at home, which included a dip in the hot tub, steak for dinner, and going to sleep early (11pm is early for me, at least).

Sunday morning we attended church at the Albuquerque Campus of Mars Hill Church. I’ve recently started listening to Mark Driscoll’s sermons and really enjoy his teaching. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to experience one of their campuses. After church we said goodbye, grabbed some lunch, and left the mountains and dry air of Albuquerque and returned to hot and windy Midland later that evening. All-in-all, it was an awesome weekend of meeting new people, seeing new places, and enjoying new experiences.

Here are pictures that I took from the trip: