I have put off writing this blog because I didn’t know how to start it, or even where it would go. I wanted to have a solid idea of what I would say and how to present myself so that it would inspire and inform my readers, but I am realizing now that the perfect structure will never come, and I may never be fully prepared or able to explain why am I am called on this mission to serve. But at the same time, I can’t let that stop me, because that will probably always be true, especially in this next year of serving and evangelizing on the Race. There will be times when I am nervous, don’t know what to say or how to say it, and it is then that I will have to fully trust and lean on God to give me not just the right words, but His words. I will need to have faith that He will use me and speak through me in ways will evoke and guide people to Him in the perfect way and at the perfect time according to His perfect plan. That may be foreign and unknown to me, I will get frustrated and not understand, but I have to have faith and implicit trust in the Lord that he will use me for His glory, and that through His guidance I will be able to further His Kingdom. So the trust needs to start now, I pray that He will give me the words.
In order to understand why I am going on the World Race, you must first understand more about me. At the University I attended, my freshman year we were required to take a personality test. It was quite lengthy and took over an hour to complete. Everyone laughed at it, and it quickly became a joke, but most of us found it to be pretty accurate, and actually quite telling. This test assigned us our top five strengths and was intended to help us better develop and be aware of or skills for a successful future. My top strengths were as follows: I am a Maximizer and Developer, have strong Positivity, Empathy, and a natural ability to Win Others Over (WOO). Through understanding these aspects I better recognize how they play into my deep desire to connect with, experience and help people in need- my goal for this up-coming year on The World Race. The test put words to so many of the emotional aspects that are hard to understand, but if you read the explanations I’m sure you will see, just as I do, how they directly play into my motivation to be a missionary. (I’ve bolded a few of the statements I feel directly correlate with this mission. If you want the short version feel free to skip to the part that says MY INTERPRETATION and/or the section highlighted in blue at the bottom)
MAXIMIZER
Excellence, not average, is your measure. Taking something from below average to slightly above average take a great deal of effort and in your opinion is not very rewarding. Transforming something strong into something superb takes just as much effort but is more thrilling. Strengths, whether yours or someone else’s, fascinate you. Like a diver after pearls, you search them out, watching for the telltale signs of a strength. A glimpse of untutored excellence, rapid learning, a skill mastered without recourse to steps –all these are clues that a strength may be in play. And having found a strength, you feel compelled to nurture it, refine it, and stretch it toward excellence. You polish the pearl until it shines. This natural sorting of strengths means that others see you as discriminating. You choose to spend time with people who appreciate your particular strengths. You tend to avoid those who want to fix you and make you well rounded. You don’t want to spend your life bemoaning what you lack. Rather you want to capitalize on the gifts with which you are blessed. It’s more fun. Ir’s more productive. And counterintuitively, it is more demanding.
You see strengths in others sometimes before they do. You love to help others become excited by the natural potential of their talents. You have the capacity to see what people will do best and which jobs they will be good at. You can see how people’s talents match the tasks that must be completed. Some people may see you as picky or plodding because they don’t understand your commitment to excellence. The genius of Maximizer talents is in your natural discrimination toward better and your preference for working with and toward the best.
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 to 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 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 your helpfulness is both genuine and fulfilling to you.
You naturally see other’s potential to move, change, grow, and develop for the better. You love to see others make progress, and you will notice even the slightest progress. Being a part of another person’s development is one of the best experiences in the world for you. Other people may not be as interested in their development as you are. In fact, they may push you away because they feel you are pressuring them. But the genius of Developer talents lie in your ability to see the raw potential and incremental progress of others and to actively invest in furthering that development.
POSITIVITY
You are generous with praise, quick to smile, and always on the lookout for positive in the situation. Some call you lighthearted. Others just wish 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 escape your conviction that it is good to be alive, that work can be fun, and no matter what the setbacks, one must never lose one’s sense of humor.
You bring enthusiasm to people, groups, and organizations. You can stimulate people to be more productive and become more hopeful. You can get people excited about what they are doing, causing them to become more engaged in their work. Some people will criticize you for being so optimistic. They may say you are naïve and that may cause you to doubt yourself. The genius of Positivity talents is found in your positive emotional impact. Simply stated, everyone feels better about life when you are around.
EMPATHY
You can sense the emotions of those around you. You can feel what they are feeling as through their feelings are your own. Intuitively, you are able to see the world through their eyes and share their perspective. You do not necessarily agree with each person’s perspective. You do not necessarily feel pity for each person’s predicament- this would be sympathy, not Empathy. You do not necessarily condone the choices each person makes, but you do understand. This instinctive ability to understand is powerful. You hear the unvoiced questions. You anticipate the need. Where others grapple for words, you seem to find the right words and the right tone. You help people find the right phrases to express their feelings- to themselves as well as to others. You help them give voice to their emotional life. For these reasons other people are drawn to you.
You can sense what it feels like to be someone else. You can pick up on the pain and joy of others- sometimes before they express it. Other people feel heard by you and experience your compassion. Because you can quickly understand others, people are drawn to you when they have a need or problem, especially in relationships. Your Empathy can be challenging because you may become overwhelmed with all of the emotions you can pick up in a day. The genius of Empathy lies in the emotional depth of the relationships you’re able to form with others. People feel understood by you and seek your company.
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 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.
You have a capacity to quickly connect with people and generate positive responses from them. You can enter a crowd of people and easily know what to do and what to say. Because you know so many people, some may believe that you form only shallow relationships. Others, however, will envy how quickly and easily you make friends. But the genius of Woo talents is your ability to quickly connect with people and become a catalyst in helping them connect with one another. You have an exceptional sense of how to draw others out.
MY INTERPRETATION:
This is what I take away from these personality traits in relation to The World and Race going into and serving the world:
Through Maximizer I seek opportunities to help other people succeed and find the best within each person I encounter. I am devoted to capitalizing on those things in order to achieve a vision of excellence. In short, I want the world to be the best it can be and am determined to do all I can to work toward that goal, a goal that seeks for God’s Kingdom on Earth.
Through Developer I am a natural encourager. It is suggested that I will “flourish when (I) help less fortunate people or disadvantaged kids see their talents are opportunities for development”. This is true as I want to be a teacher and, art therapist in the future. My participation in The World Race is an extension of this. I will be in settings in that fulfill my desire to have a positive impact on the world- where I can encourage and facilitate growth in the Spirit and a personal relationship with Jesus.
Through positivity my enthusiastic and energetic attitude provides motivation for discouraged people to keep moving. I can open their eyes to what is positive in their lives. My optimism is not a naïve denial of their reality, but a natural, valid, and productive focus on what is right and good. And the only thing constantly right and good is the love of the Heavenly Father. Through my positivity I will bring the overwhelming light, love and joy of God.
Through Empathy my heart is tugged at by the sufferings and pain of this world. It breaks my heart and I want to be a source of some kind of emotional healing to those in need, one that glorifies not myself, but God. I want to be a source of compassion that points directly to the ultimate Healer.
Through Woo, spending time with and investing in a great number of people will give me energy. It drives my passion for people and helps me to not be afraid or fear strangers, but rather to reach out, become vulnerable, and extend a friendly love toward them. My ability to Win Others Over will help me build community and caring as one body in Christ.
These are my talents and my strengths. And these, through Romans Chapter 12, are what propel me into the world as a missionary. I want to present my body as a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable to God, which is my reasonable service. I want not to be conformed of this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of my mind that I may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. I have a responsibility to God and to society through the gifts he has blessed me with, and according to the grace that is given me, I must use them. For we being many, yet one body in Christ and individually members of one another, have differing gifts and are instructed to use them: If prophesy let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry let us use it in our ministering: he who teaches in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives with liberality, he who leads, with diligence, he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. Therefore I want to dedicate my gifts, graces, and talents to glorify the Lord.
It is not enough for me to just walk in the Spirit, but I must become a yielded instrument in God’s service. This is not just a willingness to do something specific, or specifically to go on the World Race, but is a dedication to do what God is commanding of me and of my heart. I am presenting my whole being to His service. I am committing my life, trying to die to myself so that I may live anew in Him, engaging in a transformation that will only be complete when I am with Christ.
