Ok, so I know it’s mid April, but this past week I finally got around to giving Chris her Xmas present from me and BL!! Needless to say, there has been a lot going on with re-opening BL and both of us being pulled in a million directions. Still, it was 4 months late…hey better late than never. A few years back I started a tradition of treating Chris to a play downtown or one year we even journeyed to Chicago to see Hamilton. But of course, we needed to break that tradition this year and come up with something different. So I got creative and ended up booking a private session with our own beloved Dr. Ronda Diegel, to chat about our personalities!! Ha!! I’m sure you’re thinking a far cry from sitting in a theater and watching Hamilton, but it was an amazing experience all the same. The fancy word for what we did was called Enneagram. I’m sure many of you have heard of it. It’s basically one way to figure out which of 9 different personalities you are, and to not only understand the core of who you are but to figure out how you deal with other personality types as well.
It was beyond fascinating for so many reasons. For one…it was wild to read a paragraph that so aptly described me!! It outlined my strengths as well as the things I struggle with. It provided an insight into who I am and why I think, feel, and react the way I do. Some of it was hard to admit; in fact at one point, I wanted to pick a different paragraph to describe me but Chris was quick to deny my request. And I also think I expressed a bit of envy over the paragraph that described her strengths, but that’s not how this works either. Ronda went on to chat about our two personality types working together (which she seemed somewhat baffled that we had managed to do for 24 years). There was actually a lot of affirmation that, without knowing what we were doing, we have done a good job running a business together as well as maintaining our friendship despite our very different personality types. This will not come as a shocker to our friends or BL community, but one of the things that was re-affirmed by Ronda was our very different approach to most everything in life. One of us may be a bit more logical and the other a tad more emotional!! Imagine that!! But maybe this has worked in our favor and has been, in part, responsible for our success. I approach decisions with my heart and she balances me with her head. Hmmm…?? Head or Heart?
Ok, so here was one of my take homes. (Oh and I’m also shocked to think that at least 1/9th of you out there actually think like me and might benefit from this message as well.) Ronda said that because I spend more time in that emotional realm, I am more apt to get caught up in my thoughts. I refer to it as ruminating…and sometimes I have to admit it’s hard to break free from that spiral. But her advice to me when my thoughts get a grip on me is to get out of my mind and into my body. To Move!! She said Chris’ personality type is just innately more rooted and grounded but that mine needs that action of consciously and deliberately choosing to move in order to feel that sense of rootedness.
Got me thinking…maybe this is why I have always exercised…maybe this is why I ended up opening a Fitness studio 24 years ago…maybe this is why I was drawn to yoga…maybe this is why I start out nearly every day doing something physical. I just didn’t know why. Maybe that’s what YOU need, too. Just to start moving…just to take that baby step every morning to get out of your brain and into your body. Maybe it’s time!! You know I will be there right along side you!!!
