Hurtful Personalities
How many times have you taken or heard about a personality test and thought what a bunch of hogwash! There are literally hundreds of these tests, which many times are used to explain or describe behavior in people. The biggest problem with these tests is the tendency of the user to use the results to excuse his or her behavior. One of the themes of this book is that people are responsible for their behavior no matter what!! Descriptors for personality types are used to help us understand what drives our good and bad behavior. We are responsible to know our dark sides and to put safeguards in place to minimize our hurtful behavior.
One of the biggest challenges that you will face will be to recognize your destructive behavior, especially during times that you feel justified in your actions. Are you not justified in “giving the finger” to someone that cuts you off on the freeway? How about when you tell the “know it all” that he or she is full of it? You have to admit that these responses to others feel pretty good! How can you change a behavior that feels so natural and is done without much thought?
I will be commenting on these types of hurtful personalities in the weeks to come.
