What's your SHAPE?

In our office, we seldom talk to our teammates face-to-face, as everyone’s faces is pretty much glued to their own computers; instead, we use our e-mail chat rooms (even though people are just sited beside each other!). So to help us get acquainted to each other more, my friend and now team leader, KM, gave us a team activity. We were tasked to e-mail each other our Strengths, Heart (which stands for passion), Attitude, Personality, and Experiences: in short, SHAPE. I really loved the idea, but I didn’t know it would be difficult to do. After a night of thinking and half an hour of composting, I finally finished it. Here’s my SHAPE:

Strengths:

I'm not always comfortable about picking out my strengths, so please bear with me. For a start, I'm pretty much a good listener, as I don't like talking much. And because I don't talk that much, I grew to love and learn different ways of self-expression, especially art and blogging. I also have the characteristic of keeping to myself anything that I feel would bother other people, and in a way, that taught me to become mindful and firm in times of adversities.

Heart:

Right now, I'm not sure yet of what my real passion is; however, I do know that I love things and activities that are related to self-expression and discovery. That's why, for now, I love learning and creating things. Some of the things I'm passionate right now are books, photography, baking, Japanese language, and traveling (although I can't do the last one as often as I wanted to). I also use my Starbucks planner as a sketch-book, and I carry around a set of colored pencils all the time.

Attitude:

 I am usually a patient person. If I have to wait for a justifiable reason, I don’t usually lose it; I’ll just sit there and wait. I also know how to control my temper. If I do get angry or annoyed, I try to talk in a calmly manner (which is actually more effective, than shouting). I don’t really like dwelling on anger, because I feel heavy and sad. So I guess I’m also optimistic, as I always try to be happy in everything that I do. 

Personality:

I am an observant. I was never known as someone who takes the center stage; instead, I love to observe things, people, activities, and so on. I love the surprises and the wonder that I experience in observing. Because of this, I have a lot of opinions as well, which I only share with my friends or close families.

Experiences:

Like most of us, being with my family is one of the prior factors that shaped who I am today. But if I were to chose one experience that contributed to who I am now, that would be my 10 day exchange student in Japan. Being able to go there made me realize that there are different opportunities and potentials that life can offer, and that I just have to have the initiative to jump at them.

This activity was difficult because I always find it complicated to observe myself. The way I see myself may be different from how people really see, and I’m afraid that I might say something that some people might disagree with. So I can say that my answers for this activity are the “safe” ones, as most people already know them. 

How about you? What is your SHAPE?