Fair warning: I have a little bit of a bee in my bonnet today. And it’s something that I’m totally guilty of (which is probably why it bothers me so much. Isn’t that always the way?!?)
So I was bumming about on Facebook, as you do, and I saw yet another one of those quizzes where, in just 15 questions, you can know how introverted you are, how smart you are or how likely you are to bump into George Clooney at your local supermarket … OK, I made that last one up, but you get the idea.
Not only are the answers totally rigged (I know this because, according to Facebook, I have the smartest, most well-travelled, foodie friends on the whole Internet. Sorry chums, we both know you’re good, but you’re not that good!) and a complete waste of time, they’re also more than just a little bit damaging.
Since when did we become so one-dimensional that we can be classified in 15 questions?
I’d probably score minus figures on the introvert test but does that mean I’m simply a loud-mouth who loves nothing more than the sound of her own voice?
OK, sometimes I’m nothing more than a loud-mouth who loves the sound of her own voice, but I also adore peace and quiet and, despite evidence to the contrary, I do stop talking, sometimes! 😉
You are brilliant and wonderful and delightful, just the way you are.
And as tempting as it is to think that just one more personality quiz will give us the answer to who we really are so we can be ‘fixed’ or, if only we knew ourselves a little better and look, this set of answers will tell us how to show up in the world, there is no set of questions on the planet that can give you the definitive answer to who you are and why you are here.
What if, instead, you could choose who you are?
That’s not to suggest that you have to choose to fight against who you were born to be (I was never created to be silent and I have absolutely zero intention of wanting to choose to be otherwise!)
This is about tapping into how you want to show up in the world, who you choose to allow out the door each morning, and accepting that that being is delightful, quirks and foibles and all.
You are God’s masterpiece and poem, his work of art and creation, and he does not need a do over (or yet another personality quiz!) to be reminded of just how wonderful you are.