Tag: paradox

Insecure Extrovert?

I have always thought that I was an introvert, because I am often uncomfortable in a crowd. My wife argued this point with me for years because she insisted I was great with people. She is right, but I couldn’t reconcile this until recently, when I was informed that introvert/extrovert is actually more about what environments refresh you. Meaning that if you are more refreshed and recharged being around people and in groups, that’s a trait of being an extrovert. That is true for me, so I started thinking about this. If I’m really an extrovert, why do I dislike some group settings?

In dialogue with a friend about this point, I suddenly thought, “I’m an insecure extrovert!” I am uncomfortable in some groups, crowds where I don’t know anyone else or where I don’t have some defined role for being there. In a crowd of people I know, I am comfortable and can even be quite outgoing. So there it was: I’m an extrovert, but also still dealing with the insecurity that has held me back from many things since I was a teen. Though these two traits run contrary to each other in most people’s mind, I realized this is one more paradox for me.

I’m not a student of psychology so I could be getting these principles off, but this revelation of self-awareness has been useful as I reflect on my work and recreational activities. I look for ways to work past the insecurity and try to live more comfortably in my own skin, even in a crowd. Because surprisingly, when I get past the insecurity, I gain internal refreshing from the interactions with people.

Please forgive me if the psycho babble is wasted on you, as a more secure reader of this blog. But I hope it’s useful for those who might find insight into their own paradox in this post.

Vision vs. Reality

“I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.”

As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke these words in August of 1963, he pulled from the writings of the prophet Isaiah to speak of a vision for a new America. That vision, though profound, was nothing like the reality his 200,000 listeners faced in their daily lives.

This is the essence of vision, though. It has to be about speaking something into existence that isn’t already there. Because only as you speak something different from reality can you encourage listeners

  • to believe for something greater,


  • to engage their energies to work toward change,


  • and to hope that this vision has a chance of becoming more than just vision.


As leaders, our job is similar to that of Dr. King’s. We have to seek God for the vision He desires for our organization, and then use our words and efforts to move toward that new reality.

We sit in a different America today, nearly 50 years later. An America that is much more like what Dr. King dreamed of than what he faced at that time. We aren’t all the way there yet, but his leadership and that of many others contributed to the change he was believing for.


Christmas Eve!

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” – John 1:14

This time of year, we celebrate Jesus, who was a paradox Himself. Fully God, and fully man. He came into our world as a baby to change it forever. And because of that, through faith in Him, we are redeemed from what would have been our penalty.

I hope you enjoy a special time with your family, celebrating the Reason for the Season!