Personality Differences

by Dr Gary Chapman

Have you ever gone on date with a person and all they wanted to do was talk about themselves? Their life, their problems, their emotional baggage strewn out for you to look at and analyze. It's probably because they're a babbling brook. Many of you may be asking what in the world that means.

When it comes to communication there are two extreme personality profiles. First is the babbling brook. This person is constantly picking up the phone to talk to others, in fact, if they get someone's voicemail they call someone else. If they can't get someone on the phone they'll talk to themselves. Whatever they see, whatever they hear, they tell. Some of you are probably turning red saying, "That's me," but don't get too embarrassed because there are likely others out there saying, "I wish I could find someone like that, then I wouldn't have to worry about conversation starters."

This personality type is called, the "Dead Sea" personality. These people are perfectly content not to talk. In fact, if you say to a Dead Sea personality, "What's wrong, why aren't you talking tonight?" He/she is likely to respond, "Nothing. What makes you think something's wrong?" These are the kind of people who don't find long silent car rides awkward, rather they find these car rides enjoyable.

Babbling brooks have a great time with Dead Seas because they are such great listeners, and Dead Seas love not having to carry the weight of the conversation so they enjoy time with babbling brooks. The good news for two babbling brooks is that you can both learn to become better listeners. Likewise two Dead Seas can learn to be more open and to find things to talk about.

Which are you, a babbling brook or a Dead Sea? What ways have you tried or learned to become more balanced?

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