Being Golden

being-goldenI’m a Golden. What are you?

Last year our pastor did a sermon series called SHAPED. (You can listen to it here). Through it he discussed how uniquely God created us as individuals. Each week we walked through one of the following areas : SPIRITUAL GIFTS, ABILITIES, HEART, PERSONALITY, & EXPERIENCES. This series came at such a great time in my life. I’m not exactly the type of person who lacks confidence, my mother has always said that I have a confidence problem – I have too much. What can I say? I think I am an awesome gal. Lol. But more than that I think I just don’t worry too much with what other people thought about me. But during this particular season, I was struggling with what God thought about me and what His plans were for me. You see, I was in that silent, just getting by phase. Nothing was going wrong, but nothing was super exciting either. That’s not where I wanted to stay. I was ready for God to do things in my life! I wanted Him to use me!

Insert this sermon series… Each topic was great, but the personality one was the most eye opening for me. Our pastor gave us a test and I found out I was a Golden Retriever or Phlegmatic type (aka the Best One ;) ). As I took the test I thought “well everyone is going to be a golden retriever. It is the most common one.” But I soon found out that that was far from the truth. In our small group were different types across the board amongst the guys and gals. Then when I talked to my sis I found out she was a Beaver or Melancholy type. Ummm… that explains A LOT. It was as if the heavens opened and all our problems were resolved. Ok, Ok… Maybe I’m exaggerating, but maybe I’m not. All of a sudden, we had this explanation for WHY we argued about certain things or WHY we did things so differently even though we are twins. Through talking about it we soon realized a few things.

• I had always wished I got more THINGS done or had the drive to do them like she did.
• She had always wished relationships with friends came easier to her like they did for me.
• My favorite or most memorable times in my past were the vacations with family and friends, afternoons out on the lake with family, senior year with my best friends, etc.
• Some of her most important moments surrounded accomplishments she had made.

We were so much more different than I ever realized. It was such a relief!
So I am not just a lazy girl? My sister isn’t just a more amped up version of me?
This is great news!!!

In an instant, I started to look at my steady, caring, relational side as a strength and stopped assuming that it was something that came naturally to everyone. I stopped looking at my sisters accomplishments as failures for me. There was such freedom in dropping the comparison trap! You may be like me and compare yourself with others, but when you find out how God created you it’s easier to just stay in your own lane and plow ahead with your strengths. Tom Rath in his book Strengths Finder 2.0, makes the observation that we exert far less energy and time trying to excel at things that we are naturally already gifted at, than trying to excel or maybe just be average at things that we struggle with!

OK, so here is my list of reasons why I am obsessed with knowing everyones personality type I think knowing your personality is helpful:

  1. Knowing our personality type makes us proud of the things that make us unique, so that we can appreciate and better utilize our strengths. I tend to see other peoples strengths as strengths and my strengths as just something everyone has.  When we realize that there is only a portion of us who are gifted in certain ways, we are then inspired to use them more! The world needs you to be a insert your type here, so you should embrace it!
  2. Knowing our personality type helps us to relate better with others. I have to say, I probably became very annoying after learning about personalities. I was constantly saying… “Hmmm… your saying that because you’re a lion.” Or “Don’t take her judgment too seriously. She is a beaver.” It helped explain so much and almost helped to predict certain behaviors in others. You can give people grace in areas that you know are their weaknesses. This is very beneficial, but it doesn’t exactly give you a free pass, which leads me to the next point.
  3. Knowing our personality can help us to be aware of possible stumbling blocks based on our type. Knowing our strengths, we can easily predict certain issues that may arise. Some of my weakness as a Golden involve being unmotivated, so I like having the accountability of my sis to push me to do things. If it weren’t for her and the deadline she gave me, I am not sure if I would have ever finished “Wholeheartedly”. I mean hello… it takes me 2 weeks to write a blog post! But being aware of potential downfalls, we can better be proactive to minimize them.

 

So go ahead and take the test, comment below, and let me know what you got! And then just smile a little!
:) Smile because you realize that not everyone is comfortable to make everyone laugh or be the center of attention, like you Otters.
:) Smile because you discover that making to-do lists and making things happen does not come as naturally to others as it does to you Beavers.
:) Smile because you find out that not everyone enjoys leading a group of people and making decisions, like you Lions.
:) Smile because you notice that engaging in deep conversations and comforting the hurting makes some people hesitant, unlike you Golden Retrievers.

You are uniquely formed by God, so embrace your strengths and do the special thing that He created only you to do!

[mailmunch-form id=”78008″]

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Wow, I love that you posted this. Recently I discovered the 16 Personalities test & have been bugging all my friends to take it! Now I can bug them about this one too ;) I’ve been thinking a lot about different personality types & how understanding them can really benefit my relationships. Thanks for sharing :)

  • Love this Natalie!!! I discovered my Myers-Briggs personality type a few years ago and it was the most eye-opening thing! (INTJ/INFJ depending on the day ;) I made all my friends take it and it was so fun to see how different/similar we were. My best friend is almost the total opposite – ENFP – which we discovered was the best combo for compatibility haha (all but the second letter different)

    I found a little test for this one and I’m mostly a Beaver, but with some Golden tendencies too :)
    xo