Knowing your personality type helps.

I believe it would be quite helpful for people in their early 20's to know his or her individual personality type.

Speaking for myself, if I had known mine, some of the decisions I made back in my early to mid 20's I probably would not have made. I guess it's all about the learning from experience approach.

I've taken the Myer's - Brigg's personality assessment a few times and each time I've been categorized as an "ESTJ" personality type or similar. It's comforting to know that all the professional positions I have held over the years lend well to this personality type. However, these past 15 or so years, I did not fully comprehend the worth of knowing my type and taking advantage of it.

If I had fully appreciated knowing what being an ESTJ meant, I would have focused on the strengths of this "type" and utilized this knowledge to benefit my profession and my personal relationships better. I would have pursued my interest in psychology much sooner then I did. I would have paid better attention to what personality types I was compatible with.

But guess what? I'm practicing that I can't dwell on what could have been and to focus instead on what I can do for my future. I am fully aware of  what my personality is now and I will take one day at a time to pursue a more fulfilling lifestyle. I challenge you to do the same.

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Matthew 21:22 - And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

Committed Men Feeling Unappreciated and Suffocating

Boyfriends, husbands, and fathers: feeling unappreciated?

Put on your "oxygen mask"!

If you have ever flown on an airplane as a passenger, you witnessed the "in case of emergency" briefing by the flight attendants. Within the safety briefing, the flight attendant states "… in case of a loss of cabin pressure, oxygen masks will deploy from above. if you are traveling with a child, place the mask on you first then assist the child with theirs...". Why? Because you must be conscious, alert and capable of providing the care needed for your child. If you placed the oxygen mask on the child first, you may black out during the emergency and be unable to assist.

This same logic is just as valid when it comes to supporting others throughout your life. The moral of this passage is, if you provide life support for yourself first, you will be in a better position to provide for others. This is not being selfish, it's being thoughtful.

I am a man, a Christian, a husband and a father. My current lifestyle on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being almost perfect, is a 4.5. My reason for my choice is I feel unappreciated and unfulfilled. My rating would be even lower if it weren't for my faith in God. My Lord has blessed me with all that I do have and He continues to provide for me on a daily basis. However, I am not living a harmoneous lifestyle because I have neglected to place "my oxygen mask" on first.

I have fallen victim to self pity for two reasons: first - my family  (a wife and three teenage daughters) don't exhibit appreciation for all that I provide and do. I routinely express my appreciation for things they do, but it seems to have no effect on them reciprocating the same. Secondly - I have made some poor choices in the past. I desired to provide more for my wife and family and did not practice patience and prayer.

I have created this blog for two reasons: first to help me put on "my oxygen mask" and secondly to provide a forum to help other men who need to do the same. 

The first step to improving my lifestyle rating is be accountable for all decisions I have made. For every decision (good or bad), I must take responsibility for them. For at the time the decision was made, it was done based on whatever information was known at that time. Granted I may have or may not have taken due diligence to make the best decision possible. One sure thing is for any bad decision I made, I can't go back in time and fix it. The only thing I can do is learn from it and apply what I've learned to future decisions.


The next step is to keep God first in my life. I'm a Baptist Christian and this is my teaching and my faith. I believe and trust this is the same teaching in all faith based religions and I encourage you, my reader, to do the same. I've come to realize that I did not do a good job in the beginning of my life as a fiance, husband and father in keeping God first and now I'm experiencing the negative effects of that. I compromised my values and now it is a struggle for me within my family and my marriage. A typical reaction in a case like this is to give up and leave (in some cases this is the best decision). The more challenging and potentially rewarding approach is to trust in God and allow Thee to fix it. 

Thirdly, meditate and identify my "oxygen mask". This is taking me considerably longer then I could have imagined. I have always been challenged with recognizing my true talent or life calling. However, I have always known I've enjoyed helping others with finding their own success. I have now embraced this passion and I am actively pursuing it. I have consulted with a life coach and I have done extensive research on passion identification. My struggle has been with a touch of anxiety - that I am tackling head on now.

I challenge you to identify your life calling and actively pursue it too. I will use this blog to keep my followers updated on my progress.

Fourthly, take one day at a time. Each coming day, accomplish something that is an investment in the pursuit of your talent or your life calling. I'm trusting as I get more active with my passion of helping others, my lifestyle rating will steadily increase.

To God be the glory! 

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