The above photos are from a recent weekend trip I took to a getaway place in northern Georgia, by way of Atlanta's international airport, and a ride with a friend to the destination and back to the airport. The weekend itself was a retreat to connect with Jesus more intimately, with a side dish of meeting a bunch of new people, and re-connecting with a couple friends that I spent time with years ago but haven't really connected with much since.
Riding back to the airport, our conversation led me to take the Myers-Briggs personality test for the first time ever. A decade ago, I was hearing about it a lot and was extremely curious. But I didn't take the test then. Not sure what led me to not do so. Interestingly, taking it now didn't feel like such a momentous thing. Maybe that's a good thing.
According to the test, I am an ISFP-T. Probably to most people I know, that means something. I know what the letters correspond to. (I = Introverted, S = Observant, F = Feeling, P = Prospecting, T = Turbulent) But I cannot connect to the "wow!" of: "these four (or five) letters spell out the answer to what I am!" Certainly not in the way that I might have done ten years ago. Now, I'm more like: "well, that's nice. Now what?"
Bottom line, my test answer means I'm an Adventurer, and that is something I can grab hold of. I don't travel prolifically, but I do love to explore. I had never been to Atlanta or anywhere else in the state of Georgia, outside of two previous visits to Atlanta's airport in 1998, strictly to change planes. (I don't count those, anyway.) So traveling there recently was a big deal to me.
Even so, I struggle with allowing myself that freedom to explore. Simply put, it costs money. Typically more than I can afford, most of the time. Six years ago, right around the time I finally picked up my first piano student, I had made the decision to stop traveling indefinitely, specifically because it was taking money out of my budget for other things.
That said, some my best or most impactful trips has had God's provision written all over it. Almost all of my trips and events in August 2009 was paid for either by family or by friends. My first trip to California, in 2010, was almost entirely paid for by friends. All my flying trips in a little plane (South Haven, Grand Haven, Mackinaw Island, Niagara Falls, Duluth, among others), I've had portions of my expenses covered. And even on the recent weekend trip to Georgia, I happened to be on the same flight back to Chicago as one of my friends who was also on this trip (we didn't plan this in advance). While waiting to board our plane, my friend invited me to hang out and enjoy some complimentary food at the AA Club via American Airlines (he has a membership there). The bar there even had a few complimentary beverages.
So far, that's God's favor right there. But it got even better. See below pic for more details:
As I reflect, both on the Myers-Briggs personality test results, as well as the "accidental" second free glass of wine, I felt I experienced God's pleasure and favor when I go explore. The point of the weekend trip itself was to spend time connecting with Jesus in a deeper way and in the fellowship of those that were there. But I also know that I have often experienced in massive doses God's love, wisdom, pleasure, joy, among other things, when I've gone on trips. Similarly, today, after having come off the high of the trip (and other stresses crept back in), my dad and I worked on a couple projects, one with my car, and another with putting batteries inside some new roadside safety discs I had purchased. Those projects alone -- and the satisfaction of having completed them -- lifted my spirits up again.
To close this post, I thought I would share a few excerpts from the personality test result. I don't resonate with
everything the summary says, but what I pasted below I do resonate with:
"Adventurer personalities are true artists, but not necessarily in the typical sense where they're out painting happy little trees. ... Rather, it's that they use aesthetics, design and even their choices and actions to push the limits of social convention. Adventurers enjoy upsetting traditional expectations with experiments in beauty and behavior -- chances are, they've expressed more than once the phrase Don't box me in!
"Adventurers are definitely introverts, surprising their friends further when they step out of the spotlight to be by themselves to recharge. ... They take this time for introspection, assessing their principles.
"Some adventurers can handle kindly phrased commentary, valuing it as another perspective to help push their passions in new directions. But if the comments are more biting and less mature, Adventurer personalities can lose their tempers in spectacular fashion.
"The biggest challenge facing Adventurers is planning for the future. Finding constructive ideals to base their goals on and working out goals that create positive principles is no small task. Adventurers don't plan their futures in terms of assets and retirement. Rather, they plan actions and behaviors as contributions to a sense of identity, building a portfolio of experiences, not stocks.
"It's important for Adventurers to remember to actively become the person they want to be. Developing and maintaining a new habit may not come naturally, but taking the time each day to understand their motivations allows Adventurers to use their strengths to pursue whatever they've come to love."
