Winter Hibernation

I am an introvert. I am also fairly undisciplined, especially when it comes to eating and exercising. And I love to eat. I think I would have made a great bear! As the snow if falling outside my window--AGAIN-- I think, "I really don't want to take all the kids out in this to Hannah's ballet practice tonight." Last week I got stuck in the YMCA parking lot right as I was leaving to pick her up. Danny was here to help me out, but tonight he is out of town, so I would be quite stuck on my own.

However, perhaps the snow is just an excuse to do what I wanted to do already--sit cocooned in my house! I am an introvert. And that does not mean that I am "shy," although I can be in certain situations--like large groups or around people I don't know. . . But for me being an introvert means enjoying quiet, quality time with just a few of the people closest to me, namely my family. It means being reenergized by a nap or sitting quietly on my couch while children sleep. It means not minding being a stay-at-home mom who rarely has contact with the outside world. It means preferring to do things alone. It means being compeletly satisfied with just me, myself, and I for company.

Some of that has changed since getting married and having children. Now me, myself and I usually includes Danny and my children. And usually I'm okay with that. There's a Taylor Swift song that says, "I'm only me when I'm with you." And that's very true with Danny and I.

A few years into our marriage Danny and I discovered how different we were in this aspect. We were at a missionary training in Colorado where we going through workshops and hostage simulations and discussions on issues missonaries deal with. After sharing three meals a day and lots of interaction time with the same, large group of people, I was always ready to head back to our room for some quiet family time. And this was very hard for Danny because he still wanted to play games and debate and discuss and goof off with our new friends. I felt hurt that it seemed like I wasn't enough for him. Danny is an extrovert. He LOVES being with people. He loves meeting new people and making new friends and having as many people over to our house as possible and making impromptu social engagements. I like schedule, order, familiar, and quiet. . . How can two people who are so different from each other get along so well?

Well, it hasn't always been easy. But we are learning to make it work. A little give and take. He is learning my quirks and I am learning his. I know that look on his face and the urgency in his voice when he feels suffocated by lack of social stimulation. And he is learning the look on my face and the urgency in my voice when I declare that social interaction of any sort is going to make my head explode. He knows to plan more and ask before inviting. And I know when to say "hey, lets have some people over. . . or go do this or that."

And we compliment each other. If it were not for me there are a lot of quiet family moments and rest Danny would probably miss out on. And if it were not for him I would be a fat hermit ;). He makes me a better person by encouraging me to eat healthy, exercise and be active--A LOT and make friends by being a friend and being involved in people's lives. If it were not for him I would live secluded in my quiet little world, and I would be miserable! I would not know all the joys of giving of oneself in selfless service to others and in building many meaningful realtionships.

But today (and tomorrow and the next day) Danny is not here. He is at a conference for work. It is snowing out my window (still!) and so I will do what I do when Danny is not around to encourage me otherwise--I will sit on the couch in the quiet comfort of my home and watch TV and eat ice cream. And maybe I'll get some exercise in on my elliptical (the introvert in me much prefers working out in the quiet comfort of my home to group oriented stuff at the Y).

So as much as I hate winter for all of its wearisome, cold, dreary days and yucky wet, cold snow, I rather like the excuse to be a bear. I'm good at that!