I go to a bar. Several times a week. Most of the time, it's not very fun. Occasionally, I'll hit upon the right combination of mood and inebriation and I'll have a great time. I'm loud, witty, entertaining. Occasionally I'll run into somebody who can entertain the kind of deep, one-on-one conversations I need to have.<p>But when I'm not doing either of those things, which is most of the time I'm there, I'm drinking, by myself, at the bar, while everybody else there, most of whom I've known for years, has the kind of group interaction that I simply can't be bothered to participate in.<p>I have <i>introverted</i> friends that have no problem participating in the group! But I simply can't. It's not that I haven't tried. It's that, even after 6 years of going to that bar, and being friendly with all, some more than others, I'm still not comfortable with group interaction. My mind wanders, I end up pulling away slightly. After a minute it just seems easier to go back to my spot at the bar.<p>If the conversation is actually interesting to me, then I can participate, at least until it shifts to something I could care less about. I thought about trying to care more, but if I start going against my nature, I get drained and want to go home. If I do that too often I start to wonder why I even go there at all. The way I do it, I'm <i>comfortable</i>. I can spend several hours there a few times a week.<p>Introversion is real. I work to overcome my limitations, but it seems that any success I find is a result of finding workarounds, not actually fixing the problems, if there is indeed any.<p>My next big push against my introversion will be having small, private dinners at my home with people I care the most for. Perhaps I can get over my group aversion by amping up the comfort level an order of magnitude.