Me, myself and I

I love taking personality tests. I've done Meyers Brigg, Strength Finder, Enneagram, you name. One of the things I like is the consistency in how I show up. I was raised as an only child by two loving older parents. In my late teens I found out I had been adopted when I was just 3-weeks old. People often ask me how I felt when I first learned I was adopted; my first response was one of deep gratitude, my second was remorse.

I was very thankful to my parents for loving me in spite of me. I was your typically spoiled daddy's girl, with little discipline. Boy, I was hard on my mom. They LOVED me.

Also, I often wondered why I didn't "feel" connected to my parents, grandmother or other relatives. I always felt different. As a Black teenager in the 70s, I loved both Barry Manilow and Parliament Funkadelic – I still do! I lived in what would be considered a low-income neighborhood, but because of the age of my parents (my dad was a War World II vet) I lived a very comfortable working-class lifestyle. My parents owned their home, I had a swing-set in the backyard and took piano classes at USC school of music.

I think that in my quest to feel connected, and to figure out who I am, I began taking personality tests. As I said, I’ve taken most of the popular ones. Here are the results of a few:

• Meyers-Brigg: ENFJ – Extraverted, Intuitive, Feeling Judging http://www.myersbriggsreports.com/?gclid=COGr_-jhvZ0CFRZeagodrRYTiQ
• Strength Finder – Woo, Positivity, Relator, Achieve, Self Assurance http://strengths.gallup.com/110440/About-StrengthsFinder-2.aspx
• Enneagram Type: Seven – the Enthusiast, the Epicure, the Bon Vivant, Renaissance Player http://www.enneagramspectrum.com/styles/style7.htm
• Zodiac: Aries Sun, Libra moon and Leo Rising
• Chinese Zodiac: Water Tiger http://www.chinesezodiac.com/tiger.php

What does all this say about me? For me it says, a rose by any name is still a rose.