A Beeline to Life Unstuck

I’m not much of a fan of personality tests.

Maybe it’s because I’m an introvert and my answers to the questions always land me squarely in the melancholy camp. While the other personality types seem to be kinder, gentler and flitting about like social butterflies, my personality type is by herself in a corner, brooding and introspective. 

But I finally found a personality quiz that doesn't typecast those of us who consider every detail of the tasks we plan to accomplish {perfectly}.

Pat Layton author of the new book, Life Unstuck, compares the four personality types to creatures in nature — bumblebees, hummingbirds, ladybugs and butterflies — so I was curious to find out if I was a bug or a bird.

{You can take the quiz here.}

I was quite cheered to find that I was a pondering hummingbird, with a few dashes of the bumblebee mixed in to balance me out. 

And the more I thought about it, I decided I was happy to be a bird instead of a bug. 

I’ve had my share of skirmishes with lizards, frogs, palmetto bugs and even an armadillo. {Who was happy to live under my front steps when I refused to allow him to move in with me, but that's another story.} It comes with the territory of living in Florida.

But I was mystified several years ago when bees started flying around my living room at night.

I’d chase one down while it dive-bombed around me, only to find another one buzzing around the next night. 

After a week of trying to figure out how they were getting into my house and living in fear of these killer bees every night, I called my bug-man {every Florida-girl’s knight in shining armor} to investigate.

When he too was baffled, he suddenly asked if I’d brought anything new into the house. 

Well yes I had, but it certainly wasn’t new. 

On my recent trip to St. Augustine, I'd bought a vintage green shutter that I found out in the garden area of an antique shop and I hung it in my living room. 

My bug-man shook his head at me and showed me a hole in the shutter that was home to a nest of bees. He said they weren't really trying to attack me but just looking for the way back to St. Augustine as they swarmed around my living room.

I couldn't believe that not only had I unwittingly invited dozens of bees to share my living room but I'd obliviously driven home with them for two hours in my car. 

My bug-man evicted them from my shutter but it was a long time before I could walk by it without remembering the sting of that purchase. 

The pages of Life Unstuck are filled with practical pointers to move beyond the areas of our lives that keep us stuck. 

And that includes appreciating our personality quirks and God-given passions. 

Wishing I had a different temperament just keeps me focused on all the changes I think I need to make to become a better version of myself instead of seeing myself as God sees me. 

I put a glaring spotlight on all that I think is wrong with me, but really it's just me, an audience of one, paying attention to that blinding light. 

Only recently have I realized that those thoughts are not aligned with God’s thoughts about me.

So I’m taking a break. I’m setting aside my redesign and renovation project of myself. 

I’ve spent so long {years, actually} striving and constantly evaluating and assessing myself that I’m not sure I know how to just be still and let my soul rest.

I wonder if you’d like to join me in taking a break from the scrutiny and self-appraisal? 

I’m inviting God’s thoughts to infiltrate my mind. In whatever way he’d like to reveal himself to me. 

Maybe instead of trying so hard to change what I don’t like about myself, I should instead change the way I think. About God, about myself and about others.

Maybe God’s not so interested in teaching me a lesson in the circumstances of my life. Maybe he just wants to be with me.

I'm replacing the words of instruction and evaluation buzzing around my head with his words that I am his delight.

The Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love. - Ps. 147:11

I’ve been asking him what he thinks about me. And I’m surprised at what my heart is hearing.

Maybe I’m not the kind of melancholy I always thought I was. 

Maybe instead I am like a rare and remarkable hummingbird. Filled with purpose, fluttering precisely and dependably from one place to the next, noticing the details around me, steady and organized. Along with a few passionate splashes of the bumblebee tossed in for good measure.

That actually sounds a lot like me. And surprisingly, it sounds like someone I'd like to appreciate more. 

But just in case you're wondering, I won't be making a beeline to anything that I find outside and want to bring inside my home.

Even if I think it's the bee's knees.

“And it’s here at this joining of God-given passion and God-given personality where your destiny, your calling, can be discovered and embraced.” - Pat Layton


I’m part of Revell publisher’s blogger review tour for Life Unstuck, by Pat Layton. I received a complimentary copy of the book, but my opinions are completely my own.

I'm linking up with my friends at Holley Gerth's place at Coffee for your Heart. Join me there for more encouraging posts from my blogger friends!