How to Determine if You're a Snail

Okay, it probably goes without saying that if you have to ask this question, you probably are not a snail.  If you are a snail, it is probably painfully obvious to you.  But, for the sake of defining some of our characteristics, let's delve into this a bit more deeply.

First, I have to issue a disclaimer.  I am not a psychologist or a psychiatrist or any other type of medical professional.  I am just a self-defined snail.  Therefore, by default, I will name many of MY characteristics as the common characteristics of all snails.

In searching for a reason for my "differentness", I have done a lot of reading about introverts and highly sensitive people.  I am both of these things, and you may be, also.  As introverts, we have a very rich internal life.  We think deeply about things.  We enjoy solitude - in fact, we have to have some amount of solitude to thrive.  But, we also do need connection with other people.  Having said that, being around others for an extended period of time, or under noisy, excited conditions is quite draining on our energy.  We then need to retreat into solitude to re-energize.  As highly sensitive people, we become over stimulated more readily than our non-sensitive counterparts.  We also tend to notice all types of things that others don't.  We notice the details of things and find them fascinating - and can wander off mentally, contemplating these details, while our non-sensitive, fast-paced colleagues move on to the next item on their agendas.

Here are some characteristics of mine that I didn't necessarily read in any self-help books about introversion or high sensitivity and that I am uniformly assigning to all snails.  Number one feature:  WE ARE SLOW!  There, I said it.  Isn't that hard to admit!?  We move at a physically slower pace.  We make decisions more slowly than others.  We take in and process information more slowly than a lot of people.  It takes longer to "get it" than it does for many.

Here's a litmus test for anyone who wonders if he or she might be a snail:  Do you find yourself CONSTANTLY fighting the clock?  Are you in a war against the passage of time?  If so, you are probably a snail.  I'm sorry.  Life in western society is not easy for snails.  Perhaps Tibet is a better place for us!  Ha ha!  Actually, I'd go crazy without something productive to do, so forget the Tibet idea.  Still, you get it.  Snails have to compete in our society with "FAST".  Faster is better, right?  So, we lose out on the "fast" thing.

But, there are very good reasons for our slowness, and those reasons turn out to be quite valuable.  So, take heart, snails!  We provide something to society that no one else can.  In my next blog, I'll talk about why snails rock!

Until then, snails, keep moving forward!