What It Means To Be A Person, part 2

Continuing my train of thought on my post, "What It Means To Be A Person":

Humanity: It's a curious thing. We were designed with the unique ability to evaluate ourselves. The conscience. Further we are able to choose how we act and react to our surroundings. Free will. We are created in the image of God. With a temporary body and and everlasting soul. Born into a world of corruption with the privilege of accepting God's grace and then given the opportunity to "work out your salvation with fear and trembling". Encouraged to treat those who occupy this earth with us with the same dignity and respect we desire from others.

With all of these intricate tasks before us, giving and receiving with other people, it is essential that we understand our own behavior and the behavior of those around us, in order to live in harmony. That is why so many of us are interested in personality tests and languages of love. We desire communication and connection.

Since I wrote my last post on Myers-Briggs I wrote an article for the newspaper regarding the subject (which won't be published till August). In my research I discovered that there are a lot of people who believe Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) isn't as accurate as it should be. It isn't consistent. For example have you ever taken the test a few times in a row only to get different results each time? Also, people don't like the use of dichotomies; that the test allows only for one extreme or another. Introvert. Extrovert. Thinker. Feeler. I agree... generally we are all a mix of two extremes. Anyway, there is are a lot of articles on the web with the opposing arguments if you want to check it out for yourself.

I wouldn't ever recommend putting all of your "trust" in one assessment or test. There are a lot of other personality tests and quizzes out there and you have to take each one with a grain of salt.

BUT... I have noticed, for myself at least, that after enough studying and putting two and two together, a lot of the different personality tests from various perspectives do match up to show the same traits that I demonstrate daily. That I have a particular personality. Here are a few various tests that I think are super cool that I feel match up with Myer-Briggs pretty well:

1. The Color Code

Or another similar test: True Colors
(Explanation here)

2. The 5 Love Languages

Here's one that I keep reading good things about but haven't taken or studied yet:
3. The Big Five

They seem to match well in the end. From the true colors perspective, I was a Blue and Orange tie... for MBTI, I'm and ENFP... my love language is a tie between Quality Time and Encouraging Words.

Each definition of these personality expressions relates well with the others. I'm an outgoing people-person. I like action and spontaneity. I'm a pretty good procrastinator. ...and so-on.

If Myer-Briggs weren't accurate at all then I wouldn't be able to relate so well to the things about my ENFP personality type. Like this hilarious article: Your ENFP Care and Handling Use Guide and Manual
The night before I read it I'd stayed up way too late reading articles on my phone and denying my need for sleep. While reading this "ENFP manual" I was so tired and when I got to the part about making and ENFP go to sleep and taking away any distracting devices I started laughing so hard that I thought I might stop breathing!

Anyway, it's time for me to head to work. This blog post is probably riddled with bad grammar, run-on sentences and other horrors. Frankly, I don't have the time to edit, so please forgive the insanity.

The Rubber Band Analogy

July is already at it's close. I've spent the month in the most glorious company. From the beginning days, visiting Courtney in SoWis, to the middle of the month which has been full with relatives. Of course, I've spend a good deal of the time chilling with the cows, too. Actually, scratch the "chilling" part. It's been so hot and humid here that working in the barn is more like cuddling with a dirty dog in a sauna for three hours. Sounds appealing, doesn't it. And then here at the end of the month I have the pleasure of spending this evening with a dear friend from Washington.

It's been a good month.

In spite of all of the fun, it's also been a very trying time as my family has been working hard to get the organic dairy up and running. The guys have been spending all their spare time remodeling the milkhouse. We finally sold our 1,500 gallon bulk tank and have purchased a 600 gal. tank that will suit the needs of a smaller herd of cows. There's always some form of paperwork that needs to be done or sent to some dairy personnel.

Needless to say, every penny is micromanaged so that we can get this ball rolling without accumulating a hefty pile of debt. It's hard to justify putting new tires on a car when we need the money to get the business up and running.

I mention tires in specific because I had a flat yesterday. Thankfully I was already at work and the episode didn't affect me getting to my job, but it was still a bother. Interestingly, there is a Christian radio station that plays a 30 minute sermon by David Jeremiah every morning that I listen to on my drive home from work. Lately his messages have been about Job and his wearisome trials. Well played, God. Well played. Haha!

But seriously, it's perfect timing. It seems the Holy Spirit knows what you need to hear and provides for your needs with some sort of reminder or message. Although I'm sure someone's already made this connection and done so with more eloquent words here is the moral of the story as I see it:

Human beings are like rubber bands: 
They need to be stretched regularly... 
because if they aren't they will become brittle and snap from the smallest amount of pressure.

This life always brings trials. I like the verse in James. Chapter 1, verse 12, "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him."

Free... just like this land.

When Your Mom Freezes The Cookies

You know one of those days... when you wake up and everyone and everything seems to decide you should have a terrible day? Yep. And then you talk to your bestie... who TOTALLY understands... and in fact is having the same experience. There is so much joy in having a true friend who understands because they get it. Because they are just like you.

July Article

With the business of Summer I had very little time to write something decent for the newspaper. I did manage to put together something short... and sometimes less can be more. Here's my article:

Life Is Worth Protecting

“Life is a flame that is always burning itself out, but it catches fire again every time a baby is born.” - George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)

While browsing through the many posts on my Facebook homepage I saw a discussion regarding gun control after the tragic shooting in Orlando, Florida. This comment caught my attention: "The debate over abortion is rooted in the issue over when life begins. I think we both agree that all those who died in the mass shooting were very much alive prior to taking a bullet." - anonymous Facebook user.
Statements like this blow my mind. People are upset (as they should be) when an endangered animal is killed, or when 50 people are shot to death, and yet on a daily basis the FUTURE of the human race is aborted at an astonishing rate.

I'm not trying to negate the Orlando massacre or sweep other calamities under the rug. It's just that every time something terrible happens I want to be sad with everyone else. I want to mourn the loss of innocent people. Yet my first thought is always, “...yeah, but abortion.” How can a person sympathize and grieve with the rest of humanity over the continual atrocities, without considering how seared the American conscience has become and remembering the babies aborted?



Abortion isn't a debate. Abortion is murder. Those babies in the womb are very much alive when they are aborted. Until people can stop picking and choosing which facts and truths they'd like to believe we will never stop having people choosing to murder those who do not deserve to die. That man at the concert had no right to take the singer, Christina Grimmie's life. The Muslim fellow had no right to decide that homosexuality was offensive enough to justify murdering 50 people. Even as people who are pro-life shouldn't run out and murder abortionists. It is hypocritical. I don't care if you're gay, straight, in the womb or out of the womb.
Life is life... protect it.

What It Means To Be A Person

It was a Thanksgiving evening a good number of years ago, when my uncle decided that we were all sedated enough by the fullness of turkey, stuffing and pie, to trick us into taking a personality test. Indeed, we were too full to protest to sitting down in front of a questionnaire full of seemingly nonsensical questions, so we agreed to be Uncle David's personality guinea pigs.



In our vegetative state of mind we were quite certain that Uncle D. was full of it and this Dr. Phil phoo phoo was just another post-modern phase.

 

As each of us took the test and read our results we couldn't stifle laughter or the contemplative "ah-ha" moments. It was a little more spot on than we'd figured. Of course, Uncle D. was over our shoulders like the evil mastermind finally bringing into submission a whole planet of minions. Okay... well maybe he wasn't that devious and I'm sure he just wanted to encourage conversation and better understanding among the family (though I thought he'd enjoy that depiction since he's an INFP, aka the personality type that believes fairy tales are real).

Ever since that revealing day, personality typology has been a subject of interest in my family. I am guilty of convincing all of my friends, and most anyone who I think won't be too weirded-out, to sit down to a personality test. Some of the tests are better than others. If you haven't ever discovered what your personality type is, I highly recommend it. Or if you have taken it already, it never hurts to take it again. I discovered that my personality has changed (or maybe my understanding of who I am has grown?) since the night Uncle Dave enlightened us to personality profiles. This one, by Human Metrics, is my favorite right now. This test is based on the Carl Jung and Isabel Briggs Myers typology.



I must say, these tests and ideas are not the be-all and end-all. They aren't going to give all of the answers for your life or completely figure you out to a T. They're more like guidelines. Very good guidelines for understanding who you are better, what it means to be you, why you do things the way you do them... and so on. It's not about right or wrong. It's about who we are as people, and understanding who we are will give us more security and curiosity to go out and understand others better.

It's fun. It's not the end of the world. And who knows... it may give you some much needed peace about your personality as you'll discover that, in fact, you aren't horrible for being a babbling extrovert or an I'd-rather-be-alone introvert. Or for making detailed plans for your vacation... or doing just the opposite and throwing organized lists out the window in favor of spontaneity.

When I first took the test I was probably 15 or 16 and my result was an ESFJ. Now I'm an ENFP... (although I occasionally get ESFP).

I really like this website for an overview description of each of the 16 personality types: Keirsey Temperment Overview. It seems to give a decent, brief view of each type.



I also like this site for a little more detail of each type: The Personality Page. It gives a more in depth look at the different types.

These are just a few of the informative websites on the subject that are available out there. Let me know if you find some that you like better!

Anyway, it's good fun! Take the test if you haven't. Alas, I'm not done writing about this subject but it's 10pm... which is 30 minutes past my bedtime. I guess 7 and 1/2 hours of sleep will have to do tonight. :)

Rest

It's a chilly sort of morning with grey clouds that are giving off a steady mist. It's thanks to this bit of rain that my employers decided to let me stay home this morning. When time off does come I hardly know what to do with the myself. Torn between the many things I should and want to do and the urge to simply rest. It's important to rest and sometimes I think I forget to unwind, relax and do nothing at all. There are so many pressures that make me guilty for just sitting, but I am doing mainly just that this morning.

A little bit ago I went out to the back porch off my house and sat on a ledge; dangling my feet like a child, observing my little flower garden. Humming birds buzzed to the feeder. One took such a long draft of the sugary water that I looked at the level of the liquid, half expecting to see it drop before my eyes. He must have been a thirsty little bird.

The plant leaves were host to glistening drops of rain that caught the light of the sky and sent it back. The earth was a deep blackish, brown color, rich with precipitation. I enjoyed the tree branches with leaves that draped down onto mowed lawn like a soft gown on a beautiful woman, gracing the floor.

I picked up a book from an end-table earlier. It was titled, Everything Is Obvious *once you know the answer* . Sometimes it's good to simply acknowledge that I don't know everything... in fact I don't know a lot, and that I don't need to know all of the answers right now. Learning is a process that takes years and is a journey that must always be traveled but never concluded.

Resting feels wonderful because it allows your mind to stop having to come up with the solutions to every problem on earth and it gives your body time to heal from the constant strains of life. The real amusing part is that there is research that suggests that when you allow yourself to rest, you are actually giving space for your subconscious mind to have the time to work on problems. This can be accomplished through sleep and daydreaming. That's where the real work happens and the real solutions to dilemmas are discovered.

And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. - Genesis 2:2-3