Sunday, September 23, 2007

Ooh.. so strong!

Woo
"Woo stands for winning others over. You enjoy the challenge of meeting new people and getting them to like you. Strangers are rarely intimidating to you. On the contrary, strangers can be energizing. You are drawn to them. You want to learn their names, ask them questions, and find some area of common interest so that you can strike up a conversation and build rapport. Some people shy away from starting up conversations because they worry about running out of things to say. You don't. Not only are you rarely at a loss for words; you actually enjoy initiating with strangers because you derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection. Once that connection is made, you are quite happy to wrap it up and move on. There are new people to meet, new rooms to work, new crowds to mingle in. In your world there are no strangers, only friends you haven't met yet-lots of them."
I can see exactly why this is my number one strength, and it somewhat scares me. I do love meeting groups of new people, and these first few weeks in college has put my connecting ability to the test. I think because of my past experiences in high school, I’m going to be able to better handle this strength without having the feeling of being “spread thin”.

Adaptability
"You live in the moment. You don't see the future as a fixed destination. Instead, you see it as a place that you create out of the choices that you make right now. And so you discover your future one choice at a time. This doesn't mean that you don't have plans. You probably do. But this theme of Adaptability does enable you to respond willingly to the demands of the moment even if they pull you away from your plans. Unlike some, you don't resent sudden requests or unforeseen detours. You expect them. They are inevitable. Indeed, on some level you actually look forward to them. You are, at heart, a very flexible person who can stay productive when the demands of work are pulling you in many different directions at once."
Once I thought of myself as futuristic minded, yet I saw that I don't always live in the future, what I do is take things that happen in the present and see where they possibly can take me. I don’t often like to live a scheduled life and so that’s how I can deal with anything that comes in my day. Many corkscrews are still to come in life, I can't say I'll know what they are, but whatever they are, I'm sure I can take them on.

Communication
"You like to explain, to describe, to host, to speak in public, and to write. This is your Communication theme at work. Ideas are a dry beginning. Events are static. You feel a need to bring them to life, to energize them, to make them exciting and vivid. And so you turn events into stories and practice telling them. You take the dry idea and enliven it with images and examples and metaphors. You believe that most people have a very short attention span. They are bombarded by information, but very little of it survives. You want your information-whether an idea, an event, a product's features and benefits, a discovery, or a lesson-to survive. You want to divert their attention toward you and then capture it, lock it in. This is what drives your hunt for the perfect phrase. This is what draws you toward dramatic words and powerful word combinations. This is why people like to listen to you. Your word pictures pique their interest, sharpen their world, and inspire them to act."
Sometimes I ask myself, ” When does my mouth really close?” I talk a lot, and recently learned that I love to make speeches. Sometimes I still get those nerves about what I am going to say since I'm not always sure how it will be received yet still I love to speak to inspire and grab attention through talking. This is exactly why I plan on going into communications. I believe that I could hold a future in anything having to do with communicating.

Positivity
"You are generous with praise, quick to smile, and always on the lookout for the positive in the situation. Some call you lighthearted. Others just wish that their glass were as full as yours seems to be. But either way, people want to be around you. Their world looks better around you because your enthusiasm is contagious. Lacking your energy and optimism, some find their world drab with repetition or, worse, heavy with pressure. You seem to find a way to lighten their spirit. You inject drama into every project. You celebrate every achievement. You find ways to make everything more exciting and more vital. Some cynics may reject your energy, but you are rarely dragged down. Your Positivity won't allow it. Somehow you can't quite escape your conviction that it is good to be alive, that work can be fun, and that no matter what the setbacks, one must never lose one's sense of humor."
This strength is the strength that I actually wanted to be number one in. I just love the idea of positivity and I really strive to be shine in this strength. I remember every award in sports that I won had the description of how I came with a smile every day (nothing to do with athletic talent). Often times I love to use sense of humor to make tough things like a sports workout more fun. Sense of humor is huge in who I am as a person, I try to make fun out of any situation.

Developer
"You see the potential in others. Very often, in fact, potential is all you see. In your view no individual is fully formed. On the contrary, each individual is a work in progress, alive with possibilities. And you are drawn toward people for this very reason. When you interact with others, your goal is to help them experience success. You look for ways to challenge them. You devise interesting experiences that can stretch them and help them grow. And all the while you are on the lookout for the signs of growth-a new behavior learned or modified, a slight improvement in a skill, a glimpse of excellence or of "flow" where previously there were only halting steps. For you these small increments-invisible to some-are clear signs of potential being realized. These signs of growth in others are your fuel. They bring you strength and satisfaction. Over time many will seek you out for help and encouragement because on some level they know that your helpfulness is both genuine and fulfilling to you."
I feel this fifth strength is one that I am just starting to develop or possibly just starting to see. Along with my optimistic viewpoint, I am truly seeing people as potential in what God can/will do with them. I don’t know what more to say about this because honestly I can’t see it too much, or just don’t see any example in my life yet.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

In a nut shell..

It's just my luck that when I finally sit down to do my blog, a huge dance party starts outside.

I didn't mean that in a sarcastic way, I think everyone knows that I love a good dance party. Well, I love anything fun actually. I'd like to describe myself as a person that can make situations enjoyable and that I am just an optimistic person. I've learned to have a blast in any situation and to just have a positive outlook on many things.

My outlook has changed a lot from that of when I was in high school. Yeah I was still that charismatic kid with a great outlook on life, but it was a much different outlook. Now that I reflect, I had many insecurities in high school. Yeah, I was the homecoming king and voted everybody's best friend in the yearbook, yet those did no justice. A lot of time I would wonder who my real friends are. Often times I tend to build only surface level friendships, or I just get myself involved in a group that is just shallow. A friend said it best one time when she said that I "spread myself too thin".

Luckily, (I mean it!) over the summer I made some really great friendships. Alright, so I knew these people before but we definitely bonded over the summer. These people were positive Christian influences in my life. It was sad to see them off when I transitioned from the summer to APU, yet it was great timing to come to a campus where I can surround myself with more people with common beliefs.

I am much more spiritually aware of God's presence now, then I was a couple of months ago. God really worked through in my missions trip to Ethiopia, and it was amazing to hear His voice as confirmation that works and speaks through people. It's great timing to come from such an amazing trip to come to APU and grow more in spirituality.

I am: fun, optimistic, secure, spiritual and most of all, ready to see where God takes me.