Cheering

I think it was ever since I learned about the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality test that I've begun to see people with a whole new set of eyes. I've come up with other categories in ways that I sort people out.

For example, I've got this theory that people are either "laughers" or "joke-tellers." I'm a laugher -- I enjoy laughing, and when I try to tell a joke I have to really work hard to hold back from laughing at my own joke. I'm just a laugher. Bob is a joke-teller -- no doubt about it. I think I was Bob's best friend for a spell at Harding, because it seemed like he would seek me out to test his new material. He knew he could always get a laugh out of me.

I figured out a new one a few weeks ago. My favorite kids in the world right now are Daniel's kids, Corban and Anna. Corban is like me: he is a "watcher." He & I like to watch movies together. But I've noticed that Anna doesn't like watching movies. Anna likes to dance & be the center of attention herself. Anna wants to be "the one being watched." It occurs to me that people gravitate toward one pole or the other.

Another way I think about that last one is in terms of sports: there are "players," and there are "fans." I had a buddy at UF named Joe who hated watching sports. Joe was a body-builder, and he always liked to say, "I guess I'd rather be playing a sport than watching someone else do it." I'm the opposite -- I'm definitely a fan. I like to root people on; I like to cheer.

Cheering is a natural high for me. Few things get my juices flowing like watching a really great sports event: like, Monday night's Fiesta Bowl, last month's SEC Championship Game, or the 2008 U.S. Open. I get a real thrill out of rooting on my favorite player(s) in those events. I'm known for getting kind of loud, too. Whenever I'm watching a baseball game in particular, I love watching a homerun happen live so much that at the crack of the bat I'll yell, "GET OUTTA HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERE!!" In my living room I do this. I just love cheering.

Sometimes I think that the four letters "INFJ" just don't seem to fully encapsulate all the ways to describe me.