Which Disney Character are you? What epic rock starlet are you? Are you smarter than a fifth grader? Are you dumber than a bag of rocks? I do those crazy little quizzes that pass around occasionally, but I don't give them much precedence. What's your brain age? I do believe in challenging the brain. But Scrabble, Dictionaries and DMV re-licensing questions are sufficient for me.
What's your thumbprint on earth?
Actually, I have two of them and I don't think that can be changed by asking me ten questions. But —I recycle wine corks, try not to use a lot of plastic and don't buy paper towels.
Astrology, How is your day going to be? Several, if not half of the 12 zodiac signs can describe just about anyone, so, nix the horoscope, although I do believe the alignment of the sun, moon, and constellations has earthly, heavenly, and therapeutical consequences.
Recently I peeled out the tablet on some down time and took a lengthy, in-depth survey with some cool psyche questions. At the end of the survey, their determination was — You don't feel pressured to live up to society's expectations of what is "perfect", which is healthy - however, you may want to consider whether your rejection of societal standards might be jeopardizing your chances for success out of a desire to be a nonconformist.
With the exception of jeopardizing my chance for success, this may have been the closest personal description that I have seen from a quiz. I don't do anything for success, all endeavors are for either survival, love, a future life, or the pure joy of it. But, the hint of truth in the quiz that nailed me as a non-conformist was the snare that had me questioning (briefly) whether I was laying land mines in my own path of achievement. After that brief review, I determined that the close but no cigar assessment was gauging literary & monetary success.
You may ask "Well don't you want to be a writer?" I am a writer.
"Well don't you want to be published?" I am published, I did it myself.
"Well don't you want checks?" Of course, but I would continue to write even if I never got a dime.
So, does one quiz fit all? Not at all. Neither individuality or improvising are factored into these test and quizzes because someone has already predetermined what is normal. When we moved back here from NC, I took an online personality test for a job. 125 questions! Many of the questions were repetitive with a small change in the format that (I perceived) as skewing the situation. I adjusted my answers accordingly. I laughed out loud when I received the denial e-mail from the company. I was permanently blocked from testing at their site and 4 other subsidiary companies!
This is the way you should be, this is the way you are. Here is what to do to get there. Yada, yada, yada. Ambidextrous, Mild-ish dyslexia and undiagnosed, un-medicated but surely present ADD (which I describe as my desire to do many things at one time) can make interesting quiz and test results. Consistently inconsistent, I have at least 3 signatures, and was once refused a package at the post office that required a signature match with my driver's license. I have also been asked to leave the drive-through at the bank to come in and verify my identity. Not to mention being asked to leave (kicked out) a beginners aerobic class because I kept going left when everyone went right.
I may flub the quizzes, tests, and criteria that one may quantify success with, but there are advantages to knowing thyself. For one, I disagree with the philosophy that we need to start at the bottom and work our way up. If you have the ability to do the work at the top, start there. And lastly dessert can come first.
Protocol, structure, and procedure are important to maintain civil and self obedience, obviously, but, they aren't steadfast rules or recipes for success. For instance, Don will tell you that I am a darn good cook, but it certainly isn't because I follow recipes. I improvise because I am out of something, add something, or tweak it to our liking. Does it always work? No. But circumstances can also change a tried and true recipe, making it fail.
So, I'll flip across the horoscope page, laugh at the silly test's that claim to determine my self-worth or whether I am most like Cinderella or Shrek. If I make it, it will be determined by my Creator, or it will be because I just didn't know that I couldn't.
(Images via freepresskashmir, jpschools)
