The Results Are In

ESTP

Extravert(22%)  Sensing(1%)  Thinking(62%)  Perceiving(11)%

You have slight preference of Extraversion over Introversion (22%)
You have marginal or no preference of Sensing over Intuition (1%)
You have distinctive preference of Thinking over Feeling (62%)
You have slight preference of Perceiving over Judging (11%)

ESTPs are spontaneous, active folks. Like the other SPs, ESTPs get great satisfaction from acting on their impulses. Activities involving great power, speed, thrill and risk are attractive to the ESTP. Chronic stifling of these impulses makes the ESTP feel "dead inside."

Gamesmanship is the calling card of the ESTP. Persons of this type have a natural drive to best the competition. Some of the most successful salespersons are ESTPs. P.T. Barnum ("Never give a sucker an even break") illustrates the unscrupulous contingent of this type.

Almost unconsciously the ESTP looks for nonverbal, nearly subliminal cues as to what makes her quarry "tick." Once she knows, she waits for just the right time to trump the unsuspecting victim's ace and glory in her conquest. Oddly enough, the ESTP seems to admire and respect anyone who can beat her at her own game.

"If I was any better, I couldn't stand it!" To an ESTP, admission of weakness feels like failure. He admires strength in himself and in others.

"Shock effect" is a favored technique of this type to get the attention of his audience. ESTPs love to be at center stage, demonstrating feats of wonder and daring.

***

It's difficult to say whether these characteristics are accurate or if it's just some great placebo effect. I feel more empowered as a person after reading each neat thing about an ESTP, but then I have to realize it's a computer program. It doesn't really know me. So, I take this quiz with a grain of salt. That being said, I do think that some of these attributes resonate inside me on a personal level. For example, I can usually tell how a person's feeling just by watching their body language. The way I choose to react, well, that's completely up to me as an individual, but for the most part I feel like I can adapt in most situations. As for the "great power, speed, thrill and risk" part, I'm not so sure. Yes, I do enjoy certain adrenaline pumping activities, but for the most part I'm pretty content just going about daily life. Also, I'm not as competitive as the results imply. Granted, I don't enjoy failing, but it's not as if I'm crushed by it bar a few scenarios. Unless I'm truly passionate about something, I'm content with learning from my failures and picking myself back up.

Also, I'm sort of on the fence when it talks about the whole "shock effect". Sometimes I enjoy having all eyes on me (usually when I'm acting like a total dork), but for the most part I'd prefer if people would divert their eyes lest they want me to give them judgmental looks. 

All in all, the quiz was very entertaining and I feel like I can draw some conclusions out of the plethora of feedback. I will be taking it with a grain of salt, of course, and more than likely will take most of my advice from the affirmation solicitation sheets that my peers so kindly took their time to complete. Here is my favorite response:

1) Friendly

2) Loyal

3) Funny

4) Enthusiastic

5) Honest

Jonathan has a great personality. If he is capable of expressing what a friendly guy he is through his essay, I think he'll be very successful in his college search. Maybe a funny anecdote would be helpful as far as brainstorming is concerned.

Apparently, my "rabbi" thinks I'm a friendly individual. I am honored and will heed his advice.

PS Not really my rabbi

A Little Talk about the PP

That's right, I'm going to delve into the preposterousness of pride.

I do realize in class that we touched upon the subject of pride being the "worst sin", but I feel that I didn't share enough. Well... I didn't utter a word. But it didn't have anything to do with being afraid to speak up. I just couldn't piece the words together in my head. There was a plethora of thoughts floating around, but they were all bumping into each other and causing absolute mayhem in my mind. Later, I decided to simply look up a quote about pride in Mere Christianity, and sure enough Lewis was there to save the day. He declared that “[a] proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.”

Couldn't have said it better myself! In reference to my aforementioned statement, I feel like we didn't cover this subject enough in class. Maybe it was because we were all incredibly frazzled (yes, that is a word), or quite possibly everybody else was having the same dilemma as me. In any case, I thought it was important to take note on why pride is the worst sin of them all. Now don't get me wrong, a sin is a sin in the eyes of God and will be judged accordingly. That being said, I don't think pride is a greater sin than the rest, but rather a more dangerous one. That's right, in a world full of delinquent and juvenile sins, pride is the methodical serial killer that works behind the scenes. Nobody notices it, but it causes the most damage.

I thought you (Mrs. Myers) made an excellent point about pride during the discussion in class. You said something along the lines of "you may not realize it, but pride is the underlying factor in all sins". That was insanely paraphrased of course, but that's the main idea I took out of it. You said that if we steal something from another person, we think we deserve it more than they do. Also, if we sabotage another man's work, we do it because we consider our own needs above the needs of others. In a way, these all relate to pride and the concern with only one's own well-being.

My biggest takeaway from the whole ordeal of pride was what Lewis touched on in his book: if we are too preoccupied with controlling those that we consider below us, we will lose sight on why we are even living in the first place. Our entire worldview is rattled if we go from focusing on God to focusing on ourselves. The reason why non-Christians don't even know what pride is (in the context of a sin) is because they have no God to look to. I know this isn't true in all cases, but for the vast majority of secular individuals, thinking about themselves is the only thing that keeps them going. They worry about their own success, their own family, their own home, their own toys, their own everything. They are so occupied with what they want, that they slowly begin losing any sense of empathy for other human beings.

I realize that I went off on kind of a tangent, but hey, that's what blogs are for right? Anyhow, I just want to wrap things up with a quick synopsis. To anybody reading this and trying to pry out a deeper meaning, understand this: God's will for your life is more than likely different than your own. If it doesn't benefit the kingdom of God's people, than it isn't worth doing. The reason pride is so dangerous is because it consumes people from the inside out without them even realizing it. Unless you specifically look for pride (and trust me, we all have a little bit of it), you won't even know that it exists within you. It is the root of all evil in my opinion, and deserves to be brought to the public's attention.

P.S. C.S. Lewis is an amazing author that has inspired my inner thoughts to become more concrete and believable. He helps clarify a lot of doubts for me, and that is the key to having good faith.

The Player

I waited for my opponent to make his next move. He didn't appear to be a renowned chess player, seeing as he wasn't overly confident in himself. If anything, he seemed a little smug. He had a reputation, although I wasn't really too sure what it was for. As we began playing, I realized what he was all about. He was good. He wasn't a loud player and he wasn't a cocky player. He just moved the pieces in a matter of fact way. It was entrancing to watch. He was very good indeed, and yet it was his subtly that made losing to him that much easier. The previous players that beat me were unbearably loud and egotistical, but this man was neither. And yet there was just something about him that made me dislike him more than all the rest. I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was, but it made me uneasy inside. With every piece of mine that he would claim, I began feeling more and more queasy. My skills were nowhere close to his. The level of play he was on completely outmatched me. The man on the other side of the table was going to completely obliterate me and it gave me an awful feeling like I'd never felt before.

I was on the brink of sickness when someone tapped me from behind on the shoulder. I turned around to see a man looking down at me. One look at him caused all of my inner pain to vanish immediately. There's no saying why I was so comforted, but his presence filled me up with joy. I didn't feel lost anymore. I didn't feel like the man across the table was in control anymore. Without him needing to say a word, I calmly stood up and allowed the man to take my spot. I couldn't take my eyes off of him either. My opponent immediately contorted his face into a look of both disgust and anger.

The man who had taken my place handled my rival with ease. He had somehow managed to take my pathetic and gap ridden army and turn it into a fortified and splendid array of pieces. With every move the rival made, the wonderful man would counter it quickly and effectively. Eventually, my opponent got so frustrated that he simply flipped the board over and stormed out of the room.

The man stood up and headed towards the exit. I was so amazed by his play style that I didn't feel worthy of following him. As soon as he reached the door, however, he turned around and gestured for me to come with him. In an instant, I gathered up my chess set and scuttled out the door with the man who had come up and saved me from tremendous defeat. The most horrible and twisted player I'd ever faced was stopped solely by this man that I could call my friend.

Hanukkah

Hanukkah: By Jonny Thiery

You are the baklava and the honey

the menorah and the candles

You are the Jew on the morning grass

and churning wheel of goat cheese.

You are the curl of hair beside my ear

and the funny glasses that I wear.

 

However, you are not the batch of unleavened bread

or the yamaka that sits atop my head

And you are certainly not the rabbi in the synagogue

There is just no way you are the rabbi in the synagogue.

 

It is possible that you are the shilling in my pocket

Maybe even the kippah in my bed,

but you are not even close to being the dreidel on my desk.

 

And a quick look in the mirror will show

that you are neither the accountant in the bank

nor the Yom Kippur or Lent.

 

It might interest you to know

speaking of the geography of the world

that Israel is now officially a country.

 

I also happen to be an acclaimed lawyer,

a man who celebrates Passover

and even takes time to observe Sabbath.

 

I am also self-centered and greedy

and your money, I will snatch it all up.

But don’t worry, I’m not the baklava and the honey.

You are still the baklava and the honey.

You will always the baklava and the honey.

Not to mention the menorah and- somehow- the candles.