stephaniek

It starts with a smile text message: “Can I call you?” Your stomach drops. Can you call me? Can you call me? Your mind immediately answers, “NO!” but your fingers don’t quite let you type out those words. After all, you don’t want to be rude and want to honor God in all things, even something as simple as a text response. But you also dread the idea of a phone call. If you’re an introvert, an unexpected phone call is about as unnerving as an unexpected visitor knocking on your door during a perfectly peaceful night at home. It helps to notice the signs of anxiety. The Overanalyze Stage While your first instinct is to ignore the text, upon further mulling, you realize that would be far too simple. No, your brain must analyze the message from every possible angle. Is it an emergency? Are they mad at me? What do they need that they can’t just text to me? Am I about to get roped into a long conversation? The Internal Debate If you haven’t immediately answered the text, you are likely to transition into the great decision step of the process. Time to decide whether you’re going to ignore the text or panic-reply with “Why?” but probably immediately regret it, as it might come across as needy. You could say “Sure,” but you will likely regret every life choice that led to that moment only seconds later. Of course, throwing your phone into the nearest body of water and living off the grid is an option. A rather harsh and expensive option, however. Sure, none of these options sounds ideal, but it appears that you are already knee-deep in decision paralysis. The Escape Attempts If you’re really committed, you might try some classic introvert avoidance tactics, [...]