My File Cabinet

Several years ago I took the Strengths Finder Test. I found it absolutely fascinating as I love everything having to do with personality profiling. This particular test is built on the premise that if we all work from a place of our strengths rather than trying to accommodate our weaknesses we will be more productive, happier people.

So my strengths.. they are all pretty nerdy: achiever, responsibility, learner, intellection, and input. Basically I like to gather information, think about it, store it, and use it to point of completion (so there is a nice little check by it at the end of the day). The one that has got me thinking lately is input. Someone with this strength is a collector. My form of input is in collecting information.

See, my brain works like a file cabinet. I hear information. If I find it interesting in any way, it gets filed in my file cabinet under nice little labelled folders. Later (sometimes much, much later) I hear a conversation, a speech, a sermon, and a file folder is pulled up in my brain. I quickly scan through the contents and find a connected piece of information. Once a file folder is opened, and a connecting tid bit is pulled, I feel compulsively driven to share that nugget.

It plays out like this: Someone talks about who at school is CPR certified, my CPR file folder is drawn up. Several pieces of information pop up: 1. where the AED machine is 2. all the people that were at the CPR training 3. my roommate and coworker is not on the list (and should be) 4. my friend who had to resuscitate two people one being a horrific story where the person died. Once these bullets in the folder come up I have to share them. Usually not all, but I obsess about it, till a compulsion makes me: raise my hand and tell the group where the machine is, call out my roommate as certified, and share to the person beside me a snippit of the horrific story, "a friend of mine has had to do CPR twice," I whisper, though if I'm being honest the number will often be exaggerated for storytelling effect.

It's funny how it works, one bullet of information could be under many file folders and therefore useful in many scenarios. Like my brother's potato gun story can be filed under accidents, eyes, potatoes, my brother, fainting at the sight of blood, awkward people or situations. It is also funny too, because in social situations, conversations can go from one topic to another so quickly that I will often get backlogged on folders and bullets accessed. A file folder might pop up, a nugget identified, I go to share it, but the conversation shifts. So I am left with a compulsion to share that which is no longer relevant, so I anxiously await another folder to be accessed, hoping it will happen soon.

Honestly, I love this about my brain. As a teacher it comes in really handy. The last two days back for teachers have given me many opportunities to open my file cabinet, pull out a folder and share information. I only pray that I might live with this great gift surrendered to God, for if not I am a poser know-it-all, trying to get attention and acclaim. But this strength surrendered can be a great tool to bring glory to God.