The other day I stumbled across an
article about loving “creative people.” I read it because someone I love dearly
often falls into of the many categories they described and I found it
interesting. But a friend of mine had a point, when we defend personalities in
articles that simply face a defense they can be “a blank check” it can either
fall into excuse to leave boot prints on hearts behind us or become tools to
navigate the balance beam of relationship. But I think, in order to walk the
balance beam of relationship we have to realize two things:
1.
People are different
2.
We can grow and learn from differences.
The stereotyped logical personality often
shakes one's head at the emotional whimsical person who goes off the beaten path
and often finds themself lost in a forest of confused emotions. But as long as
they insist on staying only on the road of logic, they miss the streams
bubbling, the quiet of melancholy, and the passion of anger. On the other side
of the picture, the emotional person judges either oneself or the logical
person (often both) because the logical person continues walking in a straight
line which serves a purpose.
Neither are necessarily right or
wrong, but neither will probably ever land in the same footprint and people are
as unique as their finger prints.
To be fair, you must know I write
as someone who often operates primarily out of emotion. Purposefully, I do not
work on some things when I experience certain emotions, no longer as a lack of
self-discipline, but as a choice for the quality of the work, and the quality
of my life. But perhaps it is important to understand, some of the people I
hope to emulate are quite the opposite. If a task is on the list, it will
generally be accomplished, sometimes to the forgetfulness of the emotions, but
mostly the logical person might say it is more that the emotions are channeled through a structured
road of thought.
Both hold a purpose.
Roads enable us to get from here to
there. Imagine life without any roads, at the least, food would not be
transported and jobs could not be worked at. I lived in a country where roads
were either filled with holes or were dirt roads. The difference between the
pothole filled panamerican thirteen years ago and the one today is the
difference between calm nerves, car sickness and at least an hour of driving...
But so too emotions serve a purpose, as beautiful as the forest is, it also
offers oxygen to all.
On either side of the spectrum there
sits value and detriment. My wandering emotions sometimes cause me to lack
trust, to speak out of turn. I forget that whatever this moment holds God still
stands as the ultimate reality. On the other hand, my emotions often give me a
deep sense of love and affection, the ability to question what I once took for
granted, and depth of life that intuition guides me to. I cry tears not just
because I often find myself hurt, but because of how deeply I love a person. I
dance inside simply because the sun shines and life for me can go anywhere from
shouting songs to melancholy satisfaction.
And yet, my way of life is one I
struggle to accept. I admire another’s. Discipline can guide some into an organized,
smooth moving life filled with accomplishment, focus, and drive. Logic can lead to strong arguments and assurance of belief. Logical lives are easy
to understand and emotions rarely effect the quality of work performed. And yet, they too suffer from and enjoy
emotion, just as I secretly hold self-discipline. Some of those with
organization love with a quiet constancy I do not understand. They may not say “I
love you,” as I often as I want to hear, but I’ve watched and seen grace when I
did not deserve a second chance. (We harm ourselves when we stereotype for we
see only one side of the jewel that people are.)
The “love me as I am” articles hold
value in that they state what a person is whilerecognizing that value. But the
wording often sounds prejudiced towards that person and against another. (Take
for example the fact that I compared roads to oxygen...)
It is sin, not personality, that is wrong with
a person.
Sometimes it proves difficult to discern
the difference, but personality is neither sin nor an excuse to sin.
