Great post on being an introvert from Chris Coyier, fellow podcaster and teacher of the web, Chris Coyier:

The reason I’m writing about this is because knowing the true nature of introverts was incredibly liberating for me. Most of my life I thought there was something a little bit broken about me. That I wasn’t quite right. That if I could just snuff out this part of myself everything would be a lot better.

It helps tremendously to identify these traits in people around you - friends and family. Your spouse. Not that everyone is necessarily one or the other, but taking a look at someone and thinking if they are drained when being around others might help you understand why they don't always want to go out or talk as much as you do.

And like Chris says in the article, it's not like I want to be locked up by myself in a dark cave somewhere - I just need to recharge sometimes and recharging for me is alone time.