11-03-2006

WORLD VIEW - 9

Personality Factors

In one sense I feel I have returned to the topic of my first blog (Sept. 25) that discussed why we disagree with each other so often. We just can’t leave out the personality factor in our discussion of world view. Clearly, each individual born into physical life is a unique expression of life. Any parent can confirm that even within a few days of birth, a child starts to express a particular personality. Even the discipline of psychology, which once favored the “blank slate” approach to development, now acknowledges that certain innate qualities are apparent in each person.

Take the qualities of pessimism or optimism. Some people just seem to be born with a tendency to one or the other. Admittedly, others do develop those traits due to life experiences. Whatever the case, a negative or positive outlook or attitude toward life, the world, and even God, does affect one’s “world view.”
One could add multiple other factors that affect one’s attitudes, such as a tendency toward introversion or extroversion. The latter two traits often affect how a person applies or manifests his/her belief system. The extrovert finds it easier to reach out to others, whereas the introvert has to work hard to get the courage to do the same. Both, however, are fully capable, in their own ways, of applying a positive world view to their lives. (In general, for those who are curious, I am, I think, an optimistic introvert!)

Many people are confused about their “life purpose” or “divine mission” as it is sometimes called. They don’t have much self-confidence, and tend to believe that they are “unimportant” in the scheme of things. One major task of all spiritual mentors and teachers is to try to get the message across to each and all that every human being is important, each is a gift to the world, each has gifts and talents to share with others. The Bible itself has that wonderful parable about talents. We are not meant to hide or bury our “talents.” The problem for many people is that they don’t recognize their own talents, or they think they are too insignificant to share. Unfortunately in today’s society, the word “talent” has often been misinterpreted to mean some unusual skill in the arts or sports. It is important for spiritual mentors to help individuals see that kindness, generosity, or even a lovely smile is a talent to be shared with others.

There are, without doubt, reasons for each of us to be on Earth at this time.
It is also time for all of us to wake up to that fact.