From the beginning of my World Race journey, I seemed to hear over and over again- “The World Race is SO hard for introverts. You never get any alone time!” I’m not here to contradict either of those statements, because:
1) After spending every.single.moment. with several introverts for nine months, I KNOW it’s hard for them. On more than one occasion I have found myself saying, “Yes of course I will run away to a coffee shop with you and sit on the opposite side of the room with my headphones in and not talk to you for three hours so you can pretend like you’re alone.” Many of my best friends (both on and off the Race) are introverts, so I get it. I applaud you, introverts. This is not easy for you.
2) We actually never get alone time. I know, I know, you should ‘never’ use words like never and always and other extremes because surely that means you are exaggerating. But honestly, it’s hardly an exaggeration. We do everything together, even the act of not doing anything. For good reason, the World Race takes the Buddy Rule to a whole new level in order to ensure our safety. But sometimes I catch myself feeling genuinely surprised when I actually get one whole squatty potty stall all to myself. #realtalk
Now if you know me at all, you probably know that I am not an introvert. But over the past nine months, I’ve realized something (a lot of things) –
the World Race is hard for extroverts, too.
It first hit me in Thailand when my team of six women lived with our host family in a house out in the jungle without any form of transportation besides our host’s pickup truck. The family spoke some English, but other than that there was not a soul for many miles who could hold a conversation in my native tongue. Also, we rarely left the house for any non-ministry-related reason. All that to emphasize the fact that for nearly an entire month, I woke up to the same five faces every.single.day. And every day, I ate, worked, talked, laughed, walked, slept, and everything in between with the same five people.
So even though I absolutely adore each of these women, I found myself spending our free time hunting down the most remote place in the house to hide away and avoid the people that I just couldn’t seem to get away from. If you’ve ever tried to escape from five people in a house where you’re only allowed in four rooms (five, if you count the bathroom), then you know it is a rather hopeless mission. So when, inevitably, one of my lovely teammates would accidentally intrude on my hiding, I got unusually annoyed really fast. And when these dear friends of mine, whom I genuinely love spending time with, dared to talk to me during one of my ‘hermitting’ moods (aka anytime we weren’t eating or doing ministry), I would muster up the energy to engage in the conversation hoping to see a comeback of my usual people-loving self, only to find that these interactions left me exhausted and drained.
This extrovert found herself wearied by people, and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why.
That is, I thought and thought and thought and racked my brains for days and days only to come up empty-handed…and then finally threw myself, exasperated and confused, at the feet of the One who knows me better than I know myself. (Why did it take me so long to get here again?) To be honest, I half-expected a scolding, or at least a stern, “You should really get better at loving people, Cassady.” Instead I received an invitation to give myself a little grace and a new understanding of what makes me an extrovert. The Lord revealed that He has created me with a special dose of extrovertedness – the variety that thrives on the adventure of exploring a new soul. This doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy the relationships I already have; it just means that I have a special love for striking up friendships with strangers.
I love people because God loves people.
He made the effort to knit each and every soul together in unique ways;
I want to honor His attention to detail by exploring His vast handiwork.
I want to forge friendships with as many of His children as I can.
I want to hear their stories and find evidence of His faithfulness.
I want to rejoice in the ways I see His fingerprints all over them.
I want to find as much joy in knowing you as your Father did in creating you.
When I realized that getting to know new people gives me a special, God-given joy, it made sense why I was lacking my usual passion for human interaction, since the only ‘new’ people around me were ones that I couldn’t communicate with. In this instance, it was enough to come to a new understanding of myself and the things that give me life. The Lord didn’t magically bring me new English-speakers to befriend, and I still had to depend on Him every day for the energy and motivation I needed to continue ‘pressing in’ to my lovely teammates.
But I’ve found that it is much easier to be accepting of myself, imperfections and all, as I slowly but surely come to a greater understanding of myself.
Yes, the World Race is hard for extroverts, too. And that’s okay, because I didn’t sign up for this expecting it to be easy. The Lord continues to challenge me to love the people in front of me every day, even if I am weary, and my weakness is no excuse because I have been empowered by His strength and filled with His perfect love. So let us not give up on loving the people in our day-to-day lives. Thank you for following me on this journey!
With love and wanderlust,
Cassady
