Monday 11 January 2016

Personality Reality Check

 

Do you ever catch yourself reacting instead of responding?   Snapping out a sharp answer to a perfectly innocuous question?   Or stop, stunned by a random flash of ill temper and wonder... "where did THAT come from?"   Or maybe you find yourself embroiled in the same old arguments that seem to seep out of the depths of your subconscious over depressingly familiar issues, even as your inner sane sibling is counselling calm.  There's no denying it because i KNOW you do.   How do i know? ....  because you are a damaged human being, interacting with other damaged humans beings, who have been damaged, in turn, by further damaged humans beings, and i come to this conclusion as the epitome of  damaged humanity.  It's a wonder the peoples of the entire globe aren't at war with each other if you think of it that way.

Back in the olden days when dinosaurs roamed the earth and i was a teenager, a very wise lady loaned me a book by John Bowlby...  


... i was captivated, as entranced as any bunny in the headlights of a mega-ton truck.   For  not only was he writing about my life with it's abandonments, hospitalisation  and pain, he explained my dysfunctional responses to that life in perfect detail.  There was a theory... and that theory had a NAME... and it explained damaged me... i was responding normally to an abnormal situation. In stereotypical human fashion i assumed that was that... problems solved... enlightenment is the precursor to change.... yeah right !!! 


  
It was the beginning of understanding the NEED for change but the change itself, as i'm sure you know, is a perpetual process that only ends when we say goodbye to this battle called life.    We may be given the tools we need to become whole  but learning how to wield them is a life span's lesson and our ability to absorb that lesson ebbs and flows through our experiences.

But it did create in me a fascination into why people respond differently to similar situations. A recent conversation  about sleeplessness is a perfect example.   It was suggested that a radio or CD player playing quietly by the bed helps lull back to sleep and if it fails at  least there's entertainment through the long, dark night.    

Friend A thought it a brilliant idea, moved her CD/radio clock that same day and reported back positive results..
    
Friend B agreed it could help pass the hours but took no action.   

Friend C found myriad reasons why it wouldn't work... no table by the bed... socket too far away... radios belong in living not sleeping area... wouldn't look good in the bedroom and on and on and on and took no action.  

Friend D whined and whinged  and blamed everyone and everything for keeping her awake and couldn't see why she had  to change her routine when sleep was her inalienable right, it wasn't "fair" that she couldn't sleep, woe, woe and thrice woe.   She would rather moan and complain than take action.


Do you recognise yourself?   Which personality are you?   Do you like what you see?   Which friend would you rather spend time with?   I've been all of them at different stages of life and i know who is the easiest to live with 24/7.   





3 comments:

sue said...

A.....but only cos I love trying out new ideas to see if they work.....wether I would give positive results? Well that's an entirely different question
I (as you well know) am a bit of a perfectionist x

brokenbutstillstanding62 said...

You and I are just irresistibly curious

sue said...

Oh definatly xx