Personalities

This reminds me of the serpent in the Garden of Eden. He twisted God’s words and made the untruth seem like reality. He weaseled into Eve’s mind and placed doubts. Ultimately, the wiles of Satan disrupted perfection for all mankind. Instigators don’t care who they hurt or what consequences befall them. All is fair in love and war and the line between the two is blurred on a regular basis.

Naysayers aren’t bad people; they are just blinded by the negative. And one thing I learned fast: sitting in the teacher’s lounge is a quick way to join the ranks of other naysayers. Well-meaning conversations are naturally drawn to negative places. Whining is allowed. Venting is encouraged. And before too long, whole attitudes sour and a naysayer is born.

Extroverts willingly dance on stage, volunteer to be in the dunking booth, and find it hilarious when they get chosen to receive the pie in their face. These are often the coaches, drama teachers, and choral directors. But they can also be the lunchroom worker, English teacher, science professor. One thing to remember about extroverts is they don’t do well with alone time and will often overfill their lives with opportunities to be with others. Their social battery is recharg

Even though I seem extroverted at times, I recharge alone. If my personal time doesn’t happen each week, I begin growing irritated, longing to isolate and hide. But I also need my people. Notice I said my people, not just people. Introverts have safe friends and family members who love, accept, and value them. When their social battery is running out, these are the people they run to for solace and comfort.

        As an adult, I learned that peacekeepers often become codependent, and that’s what I became. A fixer. A rescuer. A therapist. An advisor. Which none of them asked for. I took the position upon myself to help with my level of peace inside.

This week, we are taking a dive into a few of the prominent personality types that we may encounter in our schools. As we take a look, we need to ask ourselves which group we fall into as well. If we are nonconfrontational peacekeepers, we will feel intimidated by outspoken extroverts who love to debate. If we are snobbish, we may not see the value of others’ opinions. And if we are that teacher with A.D.D., we may not notice much of anything except that we drive others craz