There are all kinds of personality tests and character trait tests out there to help people better understand themselves. Though each test is uniquely designed to help us see our selves more honestly and with greater clarity they all answer one basic question, “what kind of person am I”.

Am I more of an introvert or an extrovert, detail oriented or a ‘big picture’ person? Do I tend to need the concrete facts or do I perceive my world more through intuition? Intuitive people will have a sense about things but not always be able to say why they feel the way they do.

Am I more naturally adventurous or cautious, aggressive or passive, dramatic or calculating? Am I They make naturally bent more towards being a follower or a leader? Am I the turtle or the hare?

Some personality styles are better suited for specific careers. Detail oriented, perfectionist types tend to make great machinists. That is not me. I don’t really care if something is within 1000 micrometers of a given measurement but then people who are naturally gifted in the sciences and math do not always find Literature or the Arts that appealing.

Of course there are some careers with many different personality styles in them and sometimes even opposites. For instance you can have two teachers who may be completely opposite in their personality styles and still be very good teachers. Another simple example is doctors. One doctor may have a more artistic and dramatic style and be very personable and we say “she or he has a great ‘bedside manner’”, while another doctor may be much more reserved and calculating and come off seeming colder or less caring, and be a renown surgeon. Both are great doctors.

They say that ‘opposites attract’ which is to say that two people are often attracted to each other because they are so different. In doing ‘marriage preparation’ sessions I often hear from the quieter more reserved person that the thing that attracted them to their partner was that he or she was more outgoing and seemed more socially confident while the more gregarious, outgoing persons often say, they were attracted to their mate because they were a calming presence and exuded a quiet strength.

All in all its good that we are all different. Of course that means that we ought to expect others to have a very different way of seeing things. We ought to be intrigued by other’s perceptions of things around us. By definition this also means that we ought to be able to admit that our perceptions are limited. We don’t often share other people’s perspective on things exactly because we have a different personality style.
Other’s perceptions of the world and it’s events ought to inform us and enlarge our understanding.

Getting a different take on something can help us to be more compassionate and understanding of others. If the only view of life we had available was our own our perceptions of life around us would be a monochrome world of black and white. As it is, and this is my belief, by virtue of the fact that we do have very different personality styles we are afforded a much more colorful view of life.

What I find interesting here is how we humans can find it easy to dismiss someone else’s perceptions while elevating our own. For a variety of reasons we humans have this inkling that if we are to be RIGHT, the other has to be WRONG. How crazy is that?

The Apostle Paul has a simple way of viewing this reality. He says we are all a part of the body. The parts do not all do the same thing but they all need each other. They may not always be equal in importance especially if we evaluate importance for a given situation or task but we are all equally important and without one part the others must pick up the slack.

My point? Celebrate differences … yours and others! Welcome differences as they are what make your particular personality style, your gifts and differences needed and important. You are God’s gift to all who are somehow part of your life experience. It is our differences that make life bearable, fun, adventurous, creative and altogether worthwhile so get out there and make a difference by just being yourself.

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