TEMPERAMENT.
- whatshesaid2020
- Jul 2
- 3 min read
TEMPERAMENT.
I am an ENFJ according to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) self-scorable test.
The description of an ENFJ is warm, empathetic, responsive, and responsible. Highly attuned to the emotions, needs, and motivations of others. Find potential in everyone, want to help others fulfill their potential. May act as catalysts for individual and group growth. Loyal, responsive to praise and criticism. Sociable, facilitate others in a group, and provide inspiring leadership.
I’ve been thinking about my leadership style lately and wondered if it has changed as my work capacity has changed. I went from managing a team to managing just myself. I also manage donors, but that’s more facilitating than managing. I match a donor’s affinity to their passion for USF and navigate how they can make an impact while creating a legacy.
While I love my new job, I worry about my temperament. This past year has brought on tremendous stress due to the amount of change in our lives. Doug and I both lost our jobs in September, went through the grueling hiring process, prepared our home for sale, moved, and eventually purchased a home in Florida.
We lived in the southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois area for almost 20 years. It was home because our grandchildren were there. It was a place where we could bond and build our forever relationship.
What I found during this time of transition was my temperament was short, less helpful, critical, and less about others and more about me. I couldn’t motivate others as I could barely motivate myself most days.
Depression and sadness crept into my life that I had never experienced before and stayed too long. It took me to my darkest hour in the middle of the night, and I wanted to be done with trying, with life.
I am being transparent so that you will understand the magnitude of my grief and that joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5).
In those darkest hours, I wept and prayed.
When I felt lonely, I wept and prayed.
When I felt useless, I wept and prayed.
When I felt deep despair, I wept and prayed.
When I wept and prayed, God answered my prayers.
I’m a woman of faith (Hebrews 11:1) and I had to put that into practice. I had to believe and trust in the [God’s] process (Covey, 1989). I had to recognize the weakness in me to become stronger (Sinek, 2014). I didn’t need to find myself. I needed to remember who I was before the world got its hands on me (Anonymous, 20205).
How did I do it? I prayed. I believed. I trusted. I let God take control of all the good and bad situations and when I did, He blessed us beyond what we could have imagined. My granddaughter, Addy Rose, said to me the other day, “you are living your best life, Grammy” after I demonstrated on Facetime how the top comes down on my new convertible, and I couldn’t agree with her more!
My takeaway from these past 10 months is, when life changes as you know it, don’t be afraid to grasp your new reality. Enjoy it, celebrate it, be thankful for it, and never change who you are for it.
I found my WOO (Clifton Strengthfinders 2.0) again in my new job, home, and environment. I’m healthier thanks to constant sunshine and a 40 lb. weight loss. I am happier thanks to God’s provisions, and I am certain that my temperament is better because of it.
Be transparent with yourself. Change what you need to. Live what you have. Enjoy who you are. You were made in the image of God and He is perfect (Genesis 1:27).
What She Said ~ Beverly
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