When we were on vacation, I read The Nester’s post where she references her personality type. Suddenly I thought about my own type, which I readily knew (INTP), but hadn’t thought about in years. It sparked a conversation between myself and the others on the trip with us. I was surprised to learn I was the only one who knew my personality type and I could not remember when I had taken the test. Since three of us had gone to the same high school and college and none of the others had taken the test, I was perplexed.
Later, at home, I had the inexplicable urge to rearrange my books on the shelves by color. A tragic idea since my books do not all fit in the shelf properly and are usually arranged by where they fit best on my staggered height shelves. While in the middle of this dusty, chaotic project, I stumbled upon the book Gifts Differing and it all came back to me. I had read the book in graduate school so I must have done the Meyers-Briggs personality test then.
Naturally, with this renewed interest, I had to read the book again.
It explains so much about me:
Why do I not feel strongly about certain causes or jump on “bandwagons”? Because I’m an INTP!
Why do I not feel comfortable expressing my feelings or hearing others express theirs? Because I’m an INTP!
Why do I prefer you to say it in 10 sentences instead of 100? Because I’m an INTP!
I hate to be the center of attention, dislike large groups, need plenty of quiet, alone time, spend a lot of time in my own head, am easy-going, don’t have to do things perfectly, don’t mind not finishing projects, and occasionally I feel threatened by a sense of failure. I’m fairly even-tempered. Not likely to jump out of my car at a stop-light and start shooting because you cut me off in traffic. But at the same time I’m not likely to stand up and cheer at a football game when a happy smile and a conservative bit of applause will do.
And, I’m not really mean, uncaring, cold or unfeeling, it’s just my personality.
Have you been tested? Did it finally help you understand all the things you thought were wrong with you?
