Affirmations and Personality

E (11%) N (25%) T (50%) J (56%)

ENTJs have a natural tendency to marshall and direct. This may be expressed with the charm and finesse of a world leader or with the insensitivity of a cult leader. The ENTJ requires little encouragement to make a plan.

ENTJs are often "larger than life" in describing their projects or proposals. This ability may be expressed as salesmanship, story-telling facility or stand-up comedy. In combination with the natural propensity for filibuster, our hero can make it very difficult for the customer to decline.

ENTJs are decisive. They see what needs to be done, and frequently assign roles to their fellows. Few other types can equal their ability to remain resolute in conflict, sending the valiant (and often leading the charge) into the mouth of hell. When challenged, the ENTJ may by reflex become argumentative. Alternatively (s)he may unleash an icy gaze that serves notice: the ENTJ is not one to be trifled with.

Overall, the commentary is generally pretty accurate. I do want to say though that I'm pretty hesitant to put faith into anything that comes across sounding like a horoscope. You can put a variety of different bits and bobs into a personality test to make it sound unique. In addition, this particular type seems to focus on a very specific aspect of my personality, that being perhaps the most obvious part of it, so I don't find it very useful. Plus, I could have gone either way on a few of the questions anyways. I think anyone can be "persuasive" if they need to be, and I'm not sure how keen I am to agree with how one-sided and analytical this combo seems. Several of the questions dealing with emotional and sympathetic characteristics seemed to me to be too absolute. For example, (and I paraphrase) the question would be something like "do you ALWAYS sympathize with people, grow from their stories yada yada yada". Quite frankly NO! I don't always do that but that certainly doesn't mean I'm that jerk that pushes the grandma in front of the moving vehicles on the sidewalk! I might be taking my results too personally. Anyways, I embrace my results and I'm interested to see what everyone else got.

For my affirmation I got
1. Leader
2. Perceptive
3. Funny
4. Driven
5. Confident

Keaton is going to go far in life. No matter what he chooses to do, he will work at it with all his being. He could choose pretty much anything he wanted with his numerous talents. He has an appreciation of diversity and a determination to experience as much as he can in life. He has an understanding of others and an especially strong gift of encouraging and lifting up others when they need it most. With all of his achievements and talents, one may be concerned to meet a proud, stuck up character, but instead they will be pleasantly surprised to be confronted by a humble and mature individual of integrity.

Thank you so much to the people who took time out of their day to fill this out for me!

Keep Moving Forward?

Going back is the quickest way on:

                 I only underlined about three quotes in Mere Christianity that really stuck out to me. This was one of them.

                 In this passage, Lewis makes a last ditch effort to convince his audience of the apparent need to admit to one's mistakes. I appreciate this quote firstly because it's one of those lines in the book that is simply poetic. For some reason, these quick memorable lines really resonate with me. It seems odd that after writing two hundred pages of philosophical hard material and metaphors, it's a seven word sentence that affects me most deeply. I cannot say precisely why I found this line so appealing psychologically but I image it happened something like this: the contrast between the long phrases with the intense diction and this short precise one forced a trigger to go off in my head that first alerted me to the difference. At this point, my mind tries to make some sort of connection between the two sentences thus putting it on high alert for any other shred of significant information. In the end, by switching on the turbo in my brain, Lewis raises his chances of getting his point across to a much more receptive reader.
                 Once my mind is fully engaged, I can take the quote from a closer analytical point of view. Immediately I say to myself, "Lewis obviously just used this contrast to grab my attention. Now what does he want me to take away from it?" (I only add all of the previous thoughts because Lewis' style of writing has taught me quite a lot about how to argue a worldview through the medium of literature). After thinking about it more, I can't imagine this line is any truer than from a religious standpoint. To accept the grace that Christ offers, we have to completely deny ourselves and recognize that we are utterly imperfect. By doing this, we must literally unlearn the basic instinct that every human has to keep moving forward. Christ offers a new start, but we have to be willing to relinquish what we've built up in our towers as less. It's difficult. The whole idea of the phrase implies that our concept of life is messed up and that we need help. Why is it so hard to ask for help sometimes?
                 This line challenges me and I hope to find it helpful. Lewis compares our entire personality to being flawed like a math problem. Sometimes I wish it was only that easy, but that'd be kinda boring wouldn't it.

The Over-Soaked Sponge

             Recently, I've come to realize that the boundaries of the world expand as one gets older. When you're a child, a limited sphere of culture and events comprises your entire understanding of life. You know your mom, and you know your dad, and you've met your uncle once or twice and you know him. You've also been to school a time or two when your older brother had to be dropped off and have a slight grasp as to how the institution works. But you've never read an Argentinian novel, or heard a Japanese jazz tune, or seen a BBC drama. Your experiences haven't spread that far yet. But they will, and before you know it you'll have read that play about a king from Denmark and watched that European soccer game.
              What I've found though is that no matter how hard you try, you'll never experience it all. It's not possible. So, should you not even try? I've attempted to find a solution to this question and have therefore assumed the position of the eager and over-soaked sponge. The world is a massive ocean and I am the humble household sponge that tries to hold it all within its pores. But when the sponge is taken out of the water, it can't contain all the information and memories for very long. It was certainly easier when I was younger and the ocean was only a glass of water, but now the world is a much bigger place and I don't have a prayer when it comes to remembering 10% of what I do daily. I'm okay with that though because it beats the alternative. The sponge is made for one thing and to deny it of its serviceability is cruel. Therefore, I will strive to fail, and continue to soak in the most of life as time will condone.

Sincerely yours,
The Over-Soaked Sponge
             

Litany By: Keaton Kerr (not really)

                      You are the silk and the velvet,

                       the brass pins and the honey.

                     You are the red nose on the clown

                   and the hush before the curtain rises.

                      You are the dog's sloppy tongue,

                    and the crust on my morning toast.

            Contrarily, you are not the deep moan of the trees,

                             the new bright name tag,

                 or the first rain that washes away the chalk.

             We both know you will never be the banana slug.

                   Thank God you're not the banana slug.

          I don't doubt you might be last chapter of a story,

                   perhaps even that new car smell,

                      I might lose my cool though

       if I discovered you were that confused rooster all along.

                      A casual glance will reveal in fact

             that you have never been the soft fuzz on the peach

         nor the nasty exchange between the client and the teller

                I'm sure it will come of no surprise to you,

                  that of all the plentiful choices available,

                            I am the trusty spare tire.

                 By chance, I'm also the elephant's lungs,

            as well as that sliver of sunshine through the clouds

             and the broken weathervane on the forgotten barn.

                   I'm also the finely wrapped photo album

                    and the tallest tree in the patch of grass

                 Just remember, I'm not the silk and the velvet.

                         You are the silk and the velvet.

                       Only you are the silk and the velvet.

  I suppose it's only fitting you're the brass pins and the honey as well