I was thinking of an epic title - "Confessions of an extravert". But I couldn't really put that as the title, because well, it's not really a confession...
This week, I was provided with the opportunity to take three out of the five soft skills training courses offered at work. One of these courses is understanding self and others using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicators. I was really excited to take this course because I am curious about what personality type I am. A year ago, I did an assessment from 16personalities.com and I got ESFJ, which gave me the description of a consul - caring, social, eager to help. When I read the details, I was thinking "ohhh!!! This is so true and is accurately describing who I am." So going into the course, I was trying to confirm that this is my personality (i.e. confirmation bias). But as the year went by, I started to notice that I may not exactly be this type, mainly the E/I dichotomy. When this training came up, I did a pre-assessment quiz (a psychometric test), and I was having a personality crisis because I could see myself in all of the options presented to me. I ended up coming into the training thinking, "I'm gonna find out if I am a serial killer because I can borderline be anything" (yes, I admit I am dramatic)...
...so results say that I am slightly more introverted than extraverted. And note that there is such a thing as a shy-extravert and outgoing-introvert. [Yeah...I'm still wrapping my head around that.]
When I saw the results, I definitely knew some of my friends will say "Aha! I knew it before, but you convinced me otherwise since I adamantly said I am extraverted"
But then, some my colleagues at work will say "What??? You are definitely extraverted."
So...what am I really? Well, I am an introvert. But I can also be extraverted :O
Hahaha, isn't this so cool?! :D :D :D I say I am introverted because I prefer this type (i.e. natural tendency to be this type). So in the course, we learned that there are three "self types": (1) True self (2) Developing self and (3) Context self. True self is what I call it to be the personality God designed you to be, so a personality that existed from the beginning of our lives. This is really interesting because although you have a true self, it changes in the environment you are in. We were also designed to be adaptable, and you grow; learning about others and building foundations for other types as you habitually experience the same situations - that is your developed self. Lastly, there is contextual self where you behave depending on the moment or situation you are in. So basically, you can exhibit all types - all 16 personality types. But you do prefer some types over the others. One good analogy is looking at the 16 types as rooms, and you can enter into any room at any given time and environment (e.g. contextual self) but you know there are some rooms you would want to avoid (e.g. thinking LOL).
So what does this all mean? I am just surprised, happy and thankful that I was able to figure out and acknowledge my "true self". For example, over the course of the training, I figured out that my natural preference is introversion, and if I was to think back to when I was a child, this would be true (I asked my mother and she was able to identify immediately that I was an introvert... -___- I should've just asked her all along!). But at the start of high school, I started to be more extraverted and that became a developed self. And that's the thing: I always thought I was extraverted because my contextual self became habitual and ongoing that it became part of my developed self. Thinking back, I admit I tried very hard to be extraverted and then it just became a part of me.
Overall, I am really happy that I got to understand myself more. I really do enjoy knowing that I am slightly more introverted (and also something else from the assessment). This helps me to understand why I respond/act the way I do with people in various environments, especially when conflicts arise.
And this makes me think back to how Jesus was during his childhood and ministry. I love how He would withdraw himself from the crowds (e.g. Matthew 14:13, 23) but yet other times He would go to great crowds to teach and proclaim the gospel (e.g. Matthew 4:23-25). And even as I am currently flipping through the Meyers-Briggs booklet, I can see Jesus be each personality type. !!!!!!! I truly think God is so wonderful to create us in unique ways and as relational beings, to be able to understand and love on another despite being on opposite ends of the scales.
:D :D :D :D Learned so much today and this week. God is so good!!
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