the extrovert problem

There's no doubt I'm an extrovert. I find myself unbelievably energized at parties and I'm utterly bored when I sit in my bed alone. I'm a nonstop talker and question asker, but lately I've been wondering: out of all the questions I've asked, what have i really learned? See, I've figured out (and yeah, this is obvious) that to learn and understand you have to really listen; being a good friend and showing you care about others is allowing them to be heard and understood. And I think listening is an issue many extroverts, mostly myself, have a problem with. I can talk for hours, but the moment many people start talking to me, I easily find myself bored and not listening to them. That's terrible! I know that I want to listen and understand the deepest parts of others, but I find myself immediately thinking of what I have to say back or what I could do to fix it, but in reality, it isn't about me. Even more so, when I talk a lot and know I'm not being heard, it hurts. Meanwhile I'm literally doing the same thing to a lot of people. (Don't get me wrong - many people have nothing interesting to say). Regardless, knowing I'm not listening to others bothers me, so recently I decided to just, well, shut the hell up. This has proven to be very hard.
While I've been shutting up, though, I've noticed all the little things I used to say that really just didn't matter. It was only about me being in the conversation instead of me hearing the directions or understanding what I should be doing. Being quiet as also allowed me to observe, which is always a beautiful thing as I've noticed many things others do not. Somehow I've created my own little secrets with myself. I often feel the need to say things to other people, and most of the time I do, but I'm focused on trying to enjoy the silence and be invested in the listening and the observing. The next step is learning how to quiet my oh so talkative mind.
artfully yours