“Why are you like this? So immature! You don’t even know how to talk with people properly. You are not a small kid anymore. Stop acting crazy.” Ryan’s mother, Mrs. Thomas, said to him. Ryan said, “I’m not crazy mom! I just don’t like to talk with strangers. I’m sorry.” “Stop arguing.” His mother replied.

Ryan is a 9 year old boy who is extremely introverted and shy. Most of the people ridicule him because of this kind of behavior. He always likes to be alone and talks to only selected people. He never talks to strangers, or even his relatives. Even if he did, it was once in a blue moon. His parents thought Ryan is mentally ill. He tried explaining to their parents that he is not ill, but they never listened to him.

One day he was thinking about all these things in their lawn, sitting on the grass under a big tree, with a cool morning breeze and birds merrily chirping; when someone threw a paper at him from behind in which was written, “What’s up, you lunatic introvert?? I heard you getting scolded by your mother yesterday. Oh! Trust me. It was such an amazing feeling to see you getting scolded, haha! Anyways, TTYL, you psycho!

Mrs. Thomas’s friend’s son, Jack, who was also Ryan’s classmate, lived next to them. Jack often used to mock at him as he enjoyed seeing him getting hurt.

Ryan could not take it anymore. He started crying loudly. Bryan, his elder brother, came running to Ryan when he saw Ryan crying.
“What happened?” Bryan asked.
“Bro, I’m sick of this. Why do people think I’m insane? I just don’t like socializing. Does that make me crazy? I mean, it’s true that I hide whenever I see people coming to my house but that’s because I hate talking to people whom I don’t like. I only talk to people I like. For example, see, I’m talking to you.”

Bryan hugged him, bought him his favorite chocolate and took him to the central park to calm him down.
They sat on a bench and Bryan started saying, “You are not crazy. Stop saying that. It’s just the situation that is driving us insane.
Our parents barely take us places to enjoy, or somewhere to travel. They do not even let you go to your friend’s house to play. They want us to study 24/7 or to do productivities the entire day. And when we ask for our entertainment, either they will tell us to read those boring story books, or will take us to the shopping mall where mom will do shopping as if she has never shopped before and we have to follow her like robots. Another major cause of making us introverted is mobile phones. I’ve been watching you getting addicted to phones these days.

Ryan nodded his head.
Bryan continued, “Just Imagine, if we got to travel to different countries, cities, and got to meet new people and friends most of the days, do you think we would be like this? Never!
Listen don’t be disheartened, it’s not our faults. We are helpless. Even if we try to make them realize we get to hear- “We are our parents. Do we have to learn from you or you have to learn from us?” Or, they would compare us with our friends’ saying- “Do you know how polite he\she is to their parents? When I was of your age, I never spoke back to my mother. Not even stared at her, and what about you? “
So, you tell me, how can this be your fault?
Ryan held Bryan’s hands and said, “I’m so lucky to have an understanding brother like you. I wish my parents were like you :(
But bro, how are you not so introverted like me? “
His brother answered, “Dear, I have experienced these things when I was of your age. I know how it feels to be called mentally ill when you are actually not.”
Ryan: “Oh, that’s sad, but what can I do now?”
Bryan: “The same thing I did at your time.”
Ryan: “What did you do?”
Bryan: “I had patience. I knew everything would be better one day. Now, I’m 18 and things are quite better for me.
It’s about time. Time will change everything, and don’t forget, I’m with you, always.”
Ryan: “Yeah, I know, but it’s tough for me to have patience.”
Bryan: “Of course! It’s difficult, but not impossible. It’s life my dear, full of affliction, and you have to go through them.
Ryan: “Bro, you can be a very good motivational speaker!”
Bryan: “I can motivate people to have patience, but what about my patience?”

Then they both chuckled.