Four Lenses

It feels strange to share this blog without acknowledging that last week our nation experienced one of the worst days in our history. That being stated, I didn’t create my blog as a space for political commentary. Actually, I created it as a space where I could write about mindset, positivity, and personal growth. It is called Monday Morning with Mona to keep me consistent with writing, even during times when I don’t want to write, don’t have anything that I wish to share, or confusion about what to write about after a devastating week. The events of last week are not in alignment with mindset, positivity, and growth, so I am going to stay my course and write about something that has NOTHING to do with American politics, our democracy, or the preservation of our the democracy that has kept our nation free from tyrants and dictators for over 233 years. Instead, I am going to write about our Four Lenses training.

I am a member of an organization on Okinawa that provides an opportunity for spouses to learn and hone in on skills based on leadership, communication, team dynamics, and goal setting. Every month, we host get-togethers where we can learn, grow, and network with other like-minded spouses. Some months, we have a book club. Other months, we listen to a speaker. This month, we took part in Four Lenses Training.

What is Four Lenses? Simply stated, it is a personality assessment where one can “discover the differences in perception and perspective amongst four distinct personality types and learn to understand, accept and value your unique strength, as well as those of your family/friends/coworkers/peers.” MCCS Okinawa.

How was the training conducted? We asked a chaplain on the island to oversee the training. This ended up being such a blessing because not only did the chaplain conduct the training, but he also coordinated lunch for all of the attendees…free of charge. Who doesn’t like a FREE meal after a morning of training? He began by passing out 4 cards with pictures on them. We were asked to put the cards in order by our interest level. Then we took a short quiz. The questions were intuitive and simple. I feel like the faster I answered the questions, the more honest I was. It is when I started to question myself, and I started to think of various scenarios, that I created internal work-arounds to the answers. The point is: just answer the questions; don’t think too much about the answer. Your intuition is the right one. After we looked at pictures and answered the 10 simple questions, it was time to figure out “our color.”

What color am I? I am a very strong blue. Feelings are at the core of my personality. I am a people-pleaser. I want everyone to fit in. Harmony is key to my happiness. I love teamwork. Yep, this pretty much sums me up, so the assessment was spot on.

My reflections…What I found to be the most interesting aspect of the training was that I used to be a Gold. Golds love structure and to-do lists. Did I shift from being a Gold to a Blue because of my current life-style? Did I shift from being Gold to Blue because of Coronavirus? Did I shift from Gold to Blue because I am aging and figuring out the “real me” a little more each day? I am not sure why I have shifted, but I know that after going through the training, I am much more understanding and patient with others. I am more equipped to work with people with various personality types, and I am thrilled that we found other people who were interested in training and learning with me. It was a wonderful experience to spend a day with people who are interested in things that I find interesting. The day was a true blessing, and after an emotional week, I love that I can look back on this day as a good one.