Start being more authentic today. Some people may not like the real you, others may not appreciate you in your fullness. Those that stick around or new friends that are made, will be more authentic connections.
There is a good chance you’ve heard this lesson previously, but it is one I come back to often and wanted to be sure to share. The late, Dr. Wayne Dyer is known for asking the question, “When an orange is squeezed, what comes out?” {read more}
Welcome back to my blog everyone, and happy autumn season here in the northern hemisphere. As baseball season is transitioning from its regular season into playoffs; I thought this was the perfect time to highlight how great of a sport it is! And of course, you all know how much I love books and learning from other people’s experiences! With that said, lets get into today’s post with some background on why I love sports, specifically baseball.
Personally, I only got into baseball as a teenager, and then moreso when I was an adult who moved from Philadelphia down south. Of course, being raised near Philly, naturally I am a Phillies fan. I quickly learned about the differences in leagues, and how they roll up to determine which team plays which. Not to mention, I’ve had the opportunity to go to MANY stadiums around the United States. Including a few trips to Wrigley Field, in Chicago; a trip or two to Braves Stadium in Atlanta; a single trip to Padres Stadium in San Diego and countless times to Fenwey in Boston, for tours, visits and yes even the game where a fist fight broke out between the Yankees and the Red Sox.
My love for baseball started as a way to connect with Philadelphia while I was away, but quickly grew into a more mature understanding of the sport, and an appreciation for the strategy involved.
This deeper understanding of baseball, watching the communication between the pitcher and the catcher. The look in the eyes of the batters, and the choices the runners have to make, led me to read the book, “Just tell me I can’t: How Jamie Moyer Defied the Radar Gun and Defeated Time”. Yes, this book is about baseball, but even more, it is about life.
Jamie Moyer was a pitcher for the Phillies and the Seattle Mariners. He is known as the oldest pitcher who stayed in the game, and also had a unique style. If you are at all interested in sports, or personal motivation, or both! (sports and personal motivation); I highly recommend you at least watch my video summarizing the book. Or pick up a copy! Either way, please tell me what you think about baseball in the comments down below 🙂
This quiz was just TEN questions to determine what you should be when you grow up
Build self trust through being honest with yourself at your lowest, growing from it and extending yourself grace.
This is a new one and I am excited to share it with you! In a recent HBR (Harvard Business Review) article, titled, “Have you taken the difficult person test?“, a ‘darker’ personality test for the taking. The article indicates that taking any personality quiz can help provide feedback we are otherwise not getting right now. Meaning, while we are behind video calls, texting more than socializing in person, and still ordering groceries online (at least I am).
The Difficult Person Test, created by IDRLabs, is based on research by Chelsea Sleep, who is a soon to be PhD in Clinical Psychology. Speaking to the ‘darker’ side of personality quizzes; this one measures seven traits. Through a series of questions with a scaled response from disagree to agree. The seven traits are:
As you can see, these traits are in fact on the ‘darker’ side. However, every negative has a positive. And, as you will see in the HBR article, self-awareness is the true key toward being easier to get along with! For example, once you know the traits you measure high on, thus making you a more difficult person; the easier it is to recognize that trait when you express it. Therefore, allowing for adjustment in the moment, and becoming a better person immediately. Okay, maybe I went to far there. I realize some habits die hard. Either way, I believe that taking these types of quizzes is fun and can add value if you let them.
So, if you want to give it a try, the link is here.
Some of you might be here just to see my results :-p well… it turns out all those years of living in fear and trying to be as agreeable and polite as possible paid off. I answered honestly, a few of the questions I stopped and paused. By the way, if I had taken this same test even 3 years ago I know it would be different. Shoutout to a few people in my life who were able to bring some concerns to my attention. Or, help me to see things in a different way!
Alright yall! It’s time to connect on this one. Let me know directly your results or comment down below. I know one person who will probably get close to 0% on this! And, another who’d get closer to 100%. It takes all kinds!
You asked for it! So here it is. Below is a typical ‘day in the life’ of me 🙂 Most days I try and mix things up, but the activities contained in my day are usually the same. The theme of the pandemic and being {read more}
Your interest The Myers Briggs personality test is something I bring up every so often in my blog. The post about the brain character quiz peaked the interest to know my Myers Briggs type. In the spirit of embracing my personality, I am sharing my {read more}
Welcome back fam! I’m going to get straight to the point: for the longest time I forced myself to be someone I wasn’t. Instead of embracing the delicate, soft parts of myself; I showed the world only my thorns.
Randomly finding this little quiz on Instagram, I thought the results were interesting enough to share. For those of you who have known me for a long time, the results may be surprising. However, I do see truth in them, and that is why I wanted to share with you today!
Through the conditioning of society and I suppose the examples around me, I became a version of myself I didn’t even recognize. This version of myself put value in the “hustle” culture and felt better only when constantly achieving. While there are positive attributes to a sense of urgency and pushing yourself; finding authenticity (I now realize) is much more important.
After years of sacrificing the places and things that truly made me happy in search for achievement; I have finally learned to embrace my authentic self. To be honest, as I write this, I couldn’t even tell you what the heck I was exactly ‘searching’ for. It is sad to realize how far I’ve strayed away from who I really am for what I don’t even know!
But, I’m not a dweller in self-pity or regret, so let’s get to the happy part of this post! This is for anyone regardless of how far you feel apart from who you truly are. Maybe you have never strayed from who yourself or you might feel comfortable expressing your true feelings; or maybe you are on the path back to yourself. Along the journey is is important to check-in with the reflection in the mirror.
Whether it be the Myers Briggs or an online quiz, I don’t put too much stock in them, however I do believe it is a way to explore who you are. In any of these personality type tests, it is fun to determine how close to reality you think it is, and discuss it with others. In fact, I’d love your feedback on how this quiz rated me versus your perception of me!
First, if you want to take the quiz, the link is below. It oddly starts out at 11% … I tried to figure out if I was missing the first question, but from everything I could tell it just starts out not at 0%?
There are four potential results to the quiz:
The person who created this quiz, Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, is a neuroscientist. In 1996 she experienced a severe hemorrhage in the left hemisphere of her brain causing her to lose the ability to walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of her life. Her memoir, My Stroke of Insight, documenting her experience with stroke and eight-year recovery, spent 63 weeks on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list and is still routinely the #1 book about stroke on Amazon. In 2008, Dr. Jill was chosen as one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World” and was the premiere guest on Oprah Winfrey’s “Soul Series” webcast.
My results were not a surprise to me. If I had taken this same quiz even 3 years ago I would have been a little more surprised, and 10 years ago I would have said absolutely not. It just goes to show how much a person can change, and be more authentic!
Sadly, there was a time when I would have scoffed at the softness this description evokes. A time when I would have denied this description of myself and acted tough and cold on the exterior. How silly it was to deny who I really am.
Funny enough though, as far back as I can remember I was bouncing around with my dog outside, enjoying the sights and sounds of the odd acreage where we lived. Always exploring and seeking peace, even when I lived in Philadelphia. I used to sit outside the Philadelphia Art Museum in the gazebo which used to be part of the old waterworks and watch the Schuylkill River flow past.
With a forever longing to be still and at peace, but not allowing myself these two things could occur at the same time; my life was a jumble of striving for something that doesn’t exist. Granted I would find flow in the mindfulness of horseback riding. In a way I suppose that was the first activity where I learned the calmness of confidence and assuredness of small moments. It wasn’t until a few bone breaks requiring me to be still for long periods that I learned the peace of just breathing. Taking in the nature I could see through the window and enjoying memories of experiences past.
Thankfully today, I can say I embrace this as who I am. I love my body, my soul and the beautiful earth we live on. The universe fascinates me and I revel in the beauty of the birds and flowers. Sometimes I find myself observing a tree for long periods of time and just being so thankful for its shade, sturdiness and ability to give us oxygen. I’ll admit now that I hug my huggable plants and tell the others how gorgeous they are before sleeping.
If you decide to take the quiz, I’d love to hear if you agree with the results! If you know me in person, please let me know if my results are something you agree with. And, if you are open to sharing… is there a part of your authentic self that you push down or keep hidden from others (like I used to?)?
I can’t wait to hear from you all!
Decision making should be based on a person’s own choice, not the voices and opinions of others. When making decisions that align with our values and dreams, we gain self-respect.