Michigan Countdown

day 1, 99 to go.
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“there may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest. “
—   elie wiesel
[The text / quote above is a portion of a post which as been copied from one of the sites I follow:  I didn’t have my glasses on….
This specific post was titled:  “Peaceful.” and the specific link to the post is:  https://ididnthavemyglasseson.com/2020/07/27/peace-for-all/
The site is mostly about family and life in and around Ann Arbor, Michigan.  (And occasionally about politics.)  I encourage any of my readers with a spare moment to visit the site.  I think you’ll find it time well spent.  —  KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2019	Speak Up / Call Out
2018	Does Smiling Count?
2017	Giving Much
2016	Sounds Like Class
2015	Inert Ideas
2014	Worth Anything?
2013	Bruises Before Bed (Or Why You Didn’t Answer)
	Revealed Riches
2012	Extra Gears
2011	Say What?
2010	Hello Frogs…

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Role Reversal

Sometimes, you just gotta laugh…
This cartoon was found in a post on one of the blogs I follow:  Pacific Paratrooper
The specific post is located at:  https://pacificparatrooper.wordpress.com/2020/05/14/armed-forces-day-week/
Please visit the site if you have a spare moment…   —  KMAB
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On This Day In:
2019	Right Or Wrong
2018	Open Doors
2017	When It Deserves It
2016	Expiation For Rest
2015	You’ll Get Through It
2014	A Special Kind Of Fall
2013	Very Rewarding
2012	MIB3 – The Team Is Closer Than Ever
	Yet
2011	Little By Little

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All Foam And All Dreams

Oh how smoothly, how swiftly and horribly, how cruelly and thoroughly, one discovers the powers and prowess of Maya, the Supreme Power of Illusions!  With a simple sleight of her hand, léger de main, everything changes in a moment; electrically charged, exciting years of life shrink to moments – just to realize that all that fascinating reality had been a dream.  Perhaps all that happened before had been a continuous sequence of beautiful images that one would admire and fall in love with, only to realize at the end that it’s all a game of dreams, illusions and Maya.  The reality also strikes, at the same moment, that everything one would still experience in the future, would see with one’s eyes and feel with one’s hands, up to the moment of one’s death — that everything is not going to be any different in substance, or any different in kind.  Why should it be?  It’s always been all a game, all foam and all dreams.  It’s Maya, the lovely and frightful, delicious and desperate kaleidoscope of life with its searing delights, intertwined with its searing sorrows, the amazing show that has been ongoing since the dawn of Universe.
— Deodatta V. Shenai-Khatkhate
Originally found at:  https://dshenai.wordpress.com/2015/01/03/illusions-of-maya/
[I followed this blog for a couple of years.  Unfortunately, it is now a “private” site on WordPress.  Our loss…  —  KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2019	Why #IncompetentDonald May Be The Most Successful President Ever
	Latina Fish Story
2018	Blocking The Light And Air
2017	It’s Even Dimmer When You Don’t Have It
2016	Inconvenienced By Degree
2015	Sincerity
2014	Prayers For Junior
	Senseless
2013	Interesting Drink
	Super Bowl XLVII Declared A No Bird Zone
2012	Smile
2011	Come Forward

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Senate Perfidy

Three great forces rule the world: stupidity, fear and greed.
—  Albert Einstein
[Friday’s vote in the U.S. Senate…  I’ve been reading some of the press releases from the Republican Senators who voted to block all new testimony and evidence in the impeachment trial of President Trump:  We don’t need anymore new evidence because the House Managers have proven the President is guilty and we don’t want the American public to hear anymore evidence in “our” (Republican controlled) chamber.  We’ve closed the book on this case, so let’s get on with voting to dismiss the impeachment because we Republicans don’t care that he’s guilty of violating his oath of Office by abusing his power.  (paraphrasing Tennessee Republican Senator Lamar Alexander)  What Alexander didn’t say was:  “I’m not even willing to discuss the President’s guilt in obstructing Congress ’cause I just said he was guilty and why should a guilty Republican President have to provide evidence (documents or witnesses) about his own guilt just because a Democratic controlled House of Representatives wants us to fulfill our Constitution mandated oversight responsibilities.”
The above quote (from Einstein) was found at one of the blogs I follow:   https://aponderingmind.org
The specific link is:  https://aponderingmind.org/2020/01/01/three-great-forces-rule-the-world-stupidity-fear-and-greed-albert-einstein/
Please visit the site if you have a spare moment…  —  KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2019	Contributing To Congress
	Yellow Signs Of Spring
2018	But Take Heart
	Poetic Marker
2017	The Few, The Many, The Most
2016	To My Brother
2015	For Junior
	A Roman Rome
2014	Hmmm
2013	What’s A Motto With You?
2012	Worthy Companions
2011	Bourne Again
	Which Ten Are You In?

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Curing With Salt

The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears or the sea.
—  Isak Dinesen
[Found at: The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally
The link to the specific post is:  https://annkoplow.wordpress.com/2017/10/16/day-1750-water/
The site is maintained by:  Ann Koplow.
Please give her blog a visit if you have some spare time.  —  KMAB
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On This Day In:
2018	A Politician With Skills
	And / Or A Genuine Smile
2017	A Lone, Brave Voice…
2016	Job Security
2015	For I Have Always Lived Violently
2014	We Stand !! (I Stand With George)
	Additional Requirements
2013	In The Present Day
2012	Feeling It
2011	Stretching Science

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Not Personal

Justice is conscience, not a personal conscience, but the conscience of the whole of humanity.  Those who clearly recognize the voice of their own conscience usually recognize the voice of justice.
—  Aleksandr Solzhenitshyn
[This quote was found at one of the blogs I follow:  I didn’t have my glasses on….
The original post can be found at:  https://ididnthavemyglasseson.com/2019/09/08/disorientation/
Please give the site a visit if you have a spare moment or two…  —  KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2018	Preference For Irrationality
2017	All At Once
2016	One Of My Vices
2015	The War Lord
2014	Orange October (II) – Giants Win NLDS Game 2 In 18 Innings (2 to 1)!!
	Acknowledging Doubt
2013	Fulfilled Acceptance
2012	Error Is Tolerated Here (So Far)
2011	In Defense Of Pain

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Living Free

For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.
—  Nelson Mandela
[Found at one of the blogs I (used to) follow: “A Not So Jaded Life“
Unfortunately, it appears the site has been deleted at WordPress.com  —  KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2018	Relative Imagination
2017	Thank You, Senator McCain (So Far Anyway)
2016	What About Friends?
2015	It Tastes Good To Me
2014	Others’ Footsteps
	The Not-So-Modern Samurai
2013	Doin’
2012	A Lover
2011	What Have We Found Here
	Words

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My Last Must Be My Best

I will live this day as if it is my last.
And what shall I do with this last precious day, which remains in my keeping?  First, I will seal up its container of life so that not one drop spills itself upon the sand.  I will waste not a moment mourning yesterday’s misfortunes, yesterday’s defeats, yesterday’s aches of the heart, for why should I throw good after bad?
Can sand flow upward in the hourglass?  Will the sun rise where it sets and set where it rises?  Can I relive the errors of yesterday and right them?  Can I become younger than yesterday?  No.  Yesterday is buried forever and I will think of it no more.
I will live this day as if it is my last.
And what then shall I do?  Forgetting yesterday neither will I think of tomorrow.  Why should I throw now after maybe?  Can tomorrow’s sand flow through the glass before today’s?  Will the sun rise twice this morning?  Can I perform tomorrow’s deeds while standing in today’s path?  Can I place tomorrow’s gold in today’s purse?  Should I concern myself over events, which I may never witness?  Should I torment myself with problems that may never come to pass?  No!  Tomorrow lies buried with yesterday, and I will think of it no more.
I will live this day as if it is my last.
This day is all I have and these hours are now my eternity.  I greet this sunrise with cries of joy as a prisoner who is reprieved from death.  I lift mine arms with thanks for this priceless gift of a new day.  So too, I will beat upon my heart with gratitude as I consider all who greeted yesterday’s sunrise who are no longer with the living today.  I am indeed a fortunate man and today’s hours are but a bonus, undeserved.  Why have I been allowed to live this extra day when others, far better than I have departed?  Is it that they have accomplished their purpose while mine is yet to be achieved?  Is this another opportunity for me to become the man I know I can be?  Is this my day to excel?
I will live this day as if it is my last.
I have but one life and life is naught but a measurement of time.  When I waste one I destroy the other.  If I waste today I destroy the last page of my life.  Therefore, each hour of this day will I cherish for it can never return.  It cannot be banked today to be withdrawn on the morrow, for who can trap the wind?  Each minute of this day will I grasp with both hands and fondle with love for its value is beyond price.  What dying man can purchase another breath though he willingly give all his gold?  What price dare I place on the hours ahead?  I will make them priceless!
I will live this day as if it is my last.
I will avoid with fury the killers of time.  Procrastination I will destroy with action; doubt I will bury under faith; fear I will dismember with confidence.  Where there are idle mouths I will listen not; where there are idle hands I will linger not; where there are idle bodies I will visit not.
I will live this day as if it is my last.
And if it is my last, it will be my greatest monument.  This day I will make the best day of my life.  This day I will drink every minute to its full.  I will savor its taste and give thanks.  I will maketh every hour count and each minute I will trade only for something of value.  I will labor harder than ever before and push my muscles until they cry for relief, and then I will continue.  I will make more calls than ever before.  I will sell more goods than ever before.  I will earn more gold than ever before.  Each minute of today will be more fruitful than hours of yesterday.   My last must be my best.
I will live this day as if it is my last.  And if it is not, I shall fall to my knees and give thanks.
—  Augustine “Og” Mandino II
From his book: “The Greatest Salesman in the World“
The quote is more popularly referred to (known by) as:  “Scroll V“
I originally found this at on of the blogs I follow:   https://yabakientelbaki.wordpress.com/
The original post from that site is located at:  https://yabakientelbaki.wordpress.com/2019/07/30/the-scroll-marked-v-i-will-live-this-day-as-if-it-is-my-last-5-numarali-parsomen-bugunu-son-gunummus-gibi-yasayacagim-og-mandino/
Please visit the original blog if you have a moment. I will be posting about the other nine scrolls in the future.  —  KMAB
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On This Day In:
2018	Making Friends
	Day 28: A Normal Loss And A Headache
2017	Sea Worthy
2016	Rising Integration
2015	No Worries
2014	Devouring The Present
2013	But So Far…
	Twice Moved
2012	Just Like Bubbles
2011	Caring and Driving
	Achieve Greatly
2010	Unwise To Trust
	Attitude
	If The Mind Is Not Tired
	Irrationally Crazy
	2nd Pair – Shoe Review
	Ahnu – Gesundheit!
2009	As for me…
	Health Care Reform Now!!

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If One Is Lucky Enough

Those in the first flush of youth can tell us about the drives of the libido but will never understand the changes that happen later in life when libido flags.  They will never understand how Sophocles felt he’d escaped a “savage monster” and George Melly felt “unchained from an idiot” when libido thankfully waned.
It also takes time and experience to learn the wisdom of the importance of sex other than as a recreational pursuit.  Those searching for partners, or looking to establish families, are likely to offer fewer pearls of wisdom than those who have managed to establish long-term relationships and created stable families where the importance of sex for bonding and reproduction come to the fore.  One needs to be older to know, if one is lucky enough, how to sustain a long term sexual relationship once the novelty has faded.  Even more importantly, it takes time and consequently age, to know how to sustain love in a relationship when sexual life has changed with age and infirmity.
Found at one of the blogs I follow:  Looking back in sadness
The specific post link is:  Young People and Sex
Please visit the original site if you have a spare moment.  —  KMAB
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On This Day In:
2018	Being President Doesn’t Make You Presidential
	Day 27: 4 Weeks / 55lbs
2017	I’m Seeing It, Too
2016	Personal Decisions
2015	Verbal Fluency
2014	Familiar
2013	Unbending
2012	Simple Sayings
2011	Wupped Again?
2010	3 and 1…
	Musical Notes…
	Doubt Tries…
	Northwest Passages – Evening Two
	The Beierly’s Web Site

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Just Asking…

QUESTIONNAIRE
by Wendell Berry
1.  How much poison are you willing to eat for the success of the free market and global trade?  Please name your preferred poisons.
2.  For the sake of goodness, how much evil are you willing to do?  Fill in the following blanks with the names of your favorite evils and acts of hatred.
3.  What sacrifices are you prepared to make for culture and civilization?  Please list the monuments, shrines, and works of art you would most willingly destroy.
4.  In the name of patriotism and the flag, how much of our beloved land are you willing to desecrate?  List in the following spaces the mountains, rivers, towns, farms you could most readily do without.
5.  State briefly the ideas, ideals, or hopes, the energy sources, the kinds of security, for which you would kill a child.  Name, please, the children whom you would be willing to kill.
Found at one of the blogs I follow:  https://www.brainpickings.org/
The specific post link is:  https://www.brainpickings.org/2019/08/14/wendell-berry-questionnaire-amanda-palmer/?mc_cid=e1165a44ab&mc_eid=a1951a747c
Please visit the original site if you have a spare moment.  I HIGHLY recommend following this blog, but caution, the posts can be QUITE deep and insightful.  —  KMAB
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On This Day In:
2018	Or Attacks On A Free Press
	Day 26: Life
2017	Still Looking For The Key
2016	Not So Much Anymore, Boss
2015	Green Binge
2014	Overdone
2013	The Courage To Remake The World
2012	Minor Gifts
2011	I Love It When A Plan Comes Together…
2010	Eloquence
	Cleaning the Chalk Board

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Define Your Life…

Your “vision” defines your life
by Jyoti Meena
One can focus on the thorns and feel the tingling sensation..
Or one can converge all the thoughts and vision on the petals and gratify the beautiful colours and patterns of the petals..
One can choose to heed on the leaves which are drying and defoliating..
Or one can look at the newbie bud which is yet to bloom and spread it’s soothing fragrance..
It’s all about how you see things through “YOUR EYES”…
Following the world blindly won’t make you wise…
So believe in your vision because “your vision defines your life”
From the site: Jyotichamp
Located at: https://championchinti.wordpress.com/
The specific post is at:  https://championchinti.wordpress.com/2019/07/23/your-vision-defines-your-life/
Please visit the original site if you have a spare moment. — KMAB
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On This Day In:
2018	It Is No Secret
	Day 25: When 4 or 5 equals 2
2017	Cowardly Defamation
2016	With No Allowance For Chance?
2015	Details
2014	Here’s One…
2013	Non-Fungible Commodities
2012	Hope And Tears
2011	Just Long Enough
	Meaningful Thoughts

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Always Surprises

The whole point of life was you couldn’t ever be sure what would happen next.  Sometimes what happened was good, sometimes not, but there were always surprises.
―   Veronica Henry
Found at one of the blogs I follow:  I didn’t have my glasses on….
The specific address for this post: https://ididnthavemyglasseson.com/2019/08/03/surprises/
Please visit the original site if you have a spare moment.  —  KMAB
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On This Day In:
2018	You’ve Got To Stand For Something
	Day 24: Hand Touching Hand
2017	The Tide Will Turn
2016	Dreamers
2015	Three Roars
2014	Be R-E-L-E-V-A-N-T
2013	Lacking
2012	So Small A Thing
2011	Is Your Time Valuable?

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Propaganda vs. Art

Any society contains propaganda, but it is important to distinguish this from art and to preserve the purity and independence of the practice of art.  A good society contains many different artists doing many different things.  A bad society coerces artists because it knows that they can reveal all kinds of truths.
—   Iris Murdoch
[Found at one of the blogs I follow:  http://allisonmarieconway.com/
The specific link to the post this was from is: http://allisonmarieconway.com/2018/08/13/on-art-democracy-dangerous-play/
Please visit the blog if you have a free moment.  —  KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2018	What Did You Bring Up?
2017	Waiting For My First Strike
2016	Mostly Just Masticating
2015	Don’t Mess With Mosa
	How Long Is This Run?
2014	The Importance Of Being Forgetful
2013	Anyway
2012	Habit Forming
2011	And In The Other Hand(ful)
	In Love With Words
	Boundless Naïveté
	Who Did You Say Signed Off On This Treason, Pat?

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Possibilities And Challenges

You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going.  What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith, and hope.
—  Thomas Merton
[This quote is from one of the blogs I follow:
The blog is:  http://meditationsinmotion.wordpress.com/
The specific post can be found at:  http://meditationsinmotion.wordpress.com/2019/04/14/fixing-the-fixer/
Please give the site a visit if you have a free moment.  —  KMAB ]
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On This Day In:
2018	What I Tell You Three Times Is True
2017	And So On
2016	Kept
2015	Envy * 2
2014	Destiny For The Talented
2013	I Do Not Fear It
2012	Until Found
2011	Reducing Goods To Data
	The Fog Of Civilization Building

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Who Am I – One Interpretation

Waaayyy back in November of 2018, I read a post on one of the blogs I follow written by Lynn Thaler (https://lynnthaler.com/) about her taking the Meyers Briggs Personality Test (MBPT).  The specific post is located at:  https://lynnthaler.com/2018/11/29/meyers-briggs-personality-test/.   Anyway, just for laughs, I decided to take the “test”.  For those of you who are not aware, the MBPT has been around for decades (generations).  It asks you a list of questions (generally preference questions); you respond (honestly); and, then they “match” you up with a database of folks who answered the questions in a similar manner to provide you with a “personality” type.  This appears to be somewhat different than in the past.  I have taken the “test” multiple times in my lifetime and always found it interesting and / or amusing.  Back when I first took the test (in high school), I believe it was being used for education / job counseling.  I was projected to graduate from college / university with a liberal arts degree (that worked out) and was best suited to manage a Post Office (that not so much).  Below are the results of my latest test (caution, it is lengthy, so if you’re not that interested in this kind of stuff, please come back another day):
“The Advocate” (INFJ-T)
Role:  Diplomat
Strategy:  Constant Improvement
Introverted 78%
Intuitive 71%
Feeling 57%
Judging 51%
Turbulent 58%
Explore Your Type
1. Introduction
Insight of the Day
Advocates are the least likely personality type to drive faster than most other drivers.
Source: Driving Habits survey, 3542 respondents.
Advocate Personality (INFJ, -A/-T)
The Advocate personality type is very rare, making up less than one percent of the population, but they nonetheless leave their mark on the world.  As members of the Diplomat Role group, Advocates have an inborn sense of idealism and morality, but what sets them apart is that they are not idle dreamers, but people capable of taking concrete steps to realize their goals and make a lasting positive impact.
Advocates tend to see helping others as their purpose in life, but while people with this personality type can be found engaging rescue efforts and doing charity work, their real passion is to get to the heart of the issue so that people need not be rescued at all.
Advocate personality
Help Me Help You
Advocates indeed share a unique combination of traits: though soft-spoken, they have very strong opinions and will fight tirelessly for an idea they believe in.  They are decisive and strong-willed, but will rarely use that energy for personal gain  –  Advocates will act with creativity, imagination, conviction and sensitivity not to create advantage, but to create balance.  Egalitarianism and karma are very attractive ideas to Advocates, and they tend to believe that nothing would help the world so much as using love and compassion to soften the hearts of tyrants.
Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.
—  Martin Luther King
Advocates find it easy to make connections with others, and have a talent for warm, sensitive language, speaking in human terms, rather than with pure logic and fact.  It makes sense that their friends and colleagues will come to think of them as quiet Extraverted types, but they would all do well to remember that Advocates need time alone to decompress and recharge, and to not become too alarmed when they suddenly withdraw.  Advocates take great care of other’s feelings, and they expect the favor to be returned – sometimes that means giving them the space they need for a few days.
Live to Fight Another Day
Really though, it is most important for Advocates to remember to take care of themselves.  The passion of their convictions is perfectly capable of carrying them past their breaking point and if their zeal gets out of hand, they can find themselves exhausted, unhealthy and stressed.  This becomes especially apparent when Advocates find themselves up against conflict and criticism – their sensitivity forces them to do everything they can to evade these seemingly personal attacks, but when the circumstances are unavoidable, they can fight back in highly irrational, unhelpful ways.
To Advocates, the world is a place full of inequity – but it doesn’t have to be.  No other personality type is better suited to create a movement to right a wrong, no matter how big or small.  Advocates just need to remember that while they’re busy taking care of the world, they need to take care of themselves, too.
2. Strengths & Weaknesses
Advocate Strengths and Weaknesses
Advocate strengths
•Creative – Combining a vivid imagination with a strong sense of compassion, Advocates use their creativity to resolve not technical challenges, but human ones.  People with the Advocate personality type enjoy finding the perfect solution for someone they care about, and this strength makes them excellent counselors and advisors.
•Insightful – Seeing through dishonesty and disingenuous motives, Advocates step past manipulation and sales tactics and into a more honest discussion.  Advocates see how people and events are connected, and are able to use that insight to get to the heart of the matter.
•Inspiring and Convincing – Speaking in human terms, not technical, Advocates have a fluid, inspirational writing style that appeals to the inner idealist in their audience.  Advocates can even be astonishingly good orators, speaking with warmth and passion, if they are proud of what they are speaking for.
•Decisive – Their creativity, insight and inspiration are able to have a real impact on the world, as Advocates are able to follow through on their ideas with conviction, willpower, and the planning necessary to see complex projects through to the end.  Advocates don’t just see the way things ought to be, they act on those insights.
•Determined and Passionate – When Advocates come to believe that something is important, they pursue that goal with a conviction and energy that can catch even their friends and loved ones off guard.  Advocates will rock the boat if they have to, something not everyone likes to see, but their passion for their chosen cause is an inseparable part of their personality.
•Altruistic – These strengths are used for good.  Advocates have strong beliefs and take the actions that they do not because they are trying to advance themselves, but because they are trying to advance an idea that they truly believe will make the world a better place.
Advocate weaknesses
•Sensitive – When someone challenges or criticizes Advocates’ principles or values, they are likely to receive an alarmingly strong response.  People with the Advocate personality type are highly vulnerable to criticism and conflict, and questioning their motives is the quickest way to their bad side.
•Extremely Private – Advocates tend to present themselves as the culmination of an idea.  This is partly because they believe in this idea, but also because Advocates are extremely private when it comes to their personal lives, using this image to keep themselves from having to truly open up, even to close friends.  Trusting a new friend can be even more challenging for Advocates.
•Perfectionistic – Advocates are all but defined by their pursuit of ideals.  While this is a wonderful quality in many ways, an ideal situation is not always possible – in politics, in business, in romance – and Advocates too often drop or ignore healthy and productive situations and relationships, always believing there might be a better option down the road.
•Always Need to Have a Cause – Advocates get so caught up in the passion of their pursuits that any of the cumbersome administrative or maintenance work that comes between them and the ideal they see on the horizon is deeply unwelcome.  Advocates like to know that they are taking concrete steps towards their goals, and if routine tasks feel like they are getting in the way, or worse yet, there is no goal at all, they will feel restless and disappointed.
•Can Burn Out Easily – Their passion, poor patience for routine maintenance, tendency to present themselves as an ideal, and extreme privacy tend to leave Advocates with few options for letting off steam.  People with this personality type are likely to exhaust themselves in short order if they don’t find a way to balance their ideals with the realities of day-to-day living.
3. Romantic Relationships
Advocate Relationships
When it comes to romantic relationships, Advocates take the process of finding a partner seriously.  Not ones for casual encounters, people with the Advocate personality type instead look for depth and meaning in their relationships.  Advocates will take the time necessary to find someone they truly connect with – once they’ve found that someone, their relationships will reach a level of depth and sincerity that most people can only dream of.
Advocate romantic relationships
Getting to that point can sometimes be a challenge for potential partners, especially if they are the impatient type, as Advocates are often perfectionistic and picky.  People with this personality type aren’t easily talked into something they don’t want, and if someone doesn’t pick up on that, it’s a trespass that is unlikely to be forgiven, particularly in the early stages of dating. Even worse is if a suitor tries to resort to manipulation or lying, as Advocates will see right through it, and if there’s anything they have a poor tolerance for in a relationship, it is inauthenticity.
Is This for Real?
One of the things Advocates find most important is establishing genuine, deep connections with the people they care about.
Advocates will go out of their way to seek out people who share their desire for authenticity, and out of their way to avoid those who don’t, especially when looking for a partner.  All that being said, Advocates often have the advantage of desirability – they are warm, friendly, caring and insightful, seeing past facades and the obvious to understand others’ thoughts and emotions.
Advocates are enthusiastic in their relationships, and there is a sense of wisdom behind their spontaneity, allowing them to pleasantly surprise their partners again and again.  Advocates aren’t afraid to show their love, and they feel it unconditionally, creating a depth to the relationship that can hardly be described in conventional terms.  Relationships with Advocates are not for the uncommitted or the shallow.
When it comes to intimacy, Advocates look for a connection that goes beyond the physical, embracing the emotional and even spiritual connection they have with their partner.  People with the Advocate personality type are passionate partners, and see intimacy as a way to express their love and to make their partners happy.  Advocates cherish not just the act of being in a relationship, but what it means to become one with another person, in mind, body and soul.
4. Friendships
Advocate Friends
There is a running theme with Advocates, and that is a yearning for authenticity and sincerity – in their activities, their romantic relationships, and their friendships.  People with the Advocate personality type are unlikely to go for friendships of circumstance, like workplace social circles or chatting up their local baristas, where the only thing they really have in common is a day-to-day familiarity.  Rather, Advocates seek out people who share their passions, interests and ideologies, people with whom they can explore philosophies and subjects that they believe are truly meaningful.
Closed Book and Speed Reader
From the start, it can be a challenge to get to know Advocates, as they are very private, even enigmatic.  Advocates don’t readily share their thoughts and feelings, not unless they are comfortable, and since those thoughts and feelings are the basis for Advocate friendships, it can take time and persistence to get to know them.  Meanwhile, Advocates are very insightful and have a particular knack for seeing beyond others’ facades, interpreting intent and compatibility quickly and easily, and weeding out those who don’t share the depth of their idealism.
In friendship it is as though Advocates are searching for a soul mate, someone who shares every facet of their passions and imagination.
Advocates are often perfectionistic, looking for ultimate compatibility, and yet also look for someone with whom they can grow and improve in tandem.  Needless to say, this is a tall order, and Advocates should try to remember that they are a particularly rare personality type, and even if they find someone compatible in that sense, the odds that they will also share every interest are slim.  If they don’t learn to meet others halfway and recognize that the kind of self-improvement and depth they demand is simply exhausting for many types, Advocates are likely end up abandoning healthy friendships in their infancy, in search of more perfect compatibilities.
Like Finding a Needle in a Haystack
Further complicating things are Advocates’ eloquence and persuasiveness, which lead to a lot of (unwanted) attention and popularity.  Their quiet, determined idealism and imaginative expression naturally draw influence, and if there’s anything Advocates avoid, it’s the accumulation of power over others – and the people who are drawn to that type of power.  Advocates will find themselves more sought after than they’d ever care to be, making it even more difficult for them to find someone they truly have an affinity with.  Really the only way to be counted among Advocates’ true friends is to be authentic, and to have that authenticity naturally reflect their own.
Once a common thread is found though, people with the Advocate personality type make loyal and supportive companions, encouraging growth and life-enriching experiences with warmth, excitement and care.  As trust grows, Advocates will share more of what lies beneath the surface, and if those ideas and motives are mutual, it’s the sort of friendship that will transcend time and distance, lasting a lifetime.  Advocates don’t require a great deal of day-to-day attention – for them, quality trumps quantity every time, and over the years they will likely end up with just a few true friendships, built on a richness of mutual understanding that forges an indelible link between them.
5. Parenthood
Advocate Parents
As parents Advocates, much as in their friendships, will tend to look at their relationships with their children as opportunities to learn and grow with someone they care about, while working to achieve a distinctly separate but important goal – raising someone to be an independent, responsible and principled adult. People with the Advocate personality type are unflinching in their devotion to their children, willing to grin and bear any burden without hesitation. While warm and compassionate throughout the parenting relationship, what Advocates are really looking forward to is being able to communicate and relate to the person they helped to raise, as equals.
Be Unique, Just Like Me
As their children grow, Advocates will likely try to project a great deal of their own qualities onto them, demanding the same sort of idealism and honesty that they demand from themselves, and maybe even manipulating them into this in their weaker moments.  Despite this, Advocates will also push their children to think independently, make their own choices and establish their own beliefs.
The highest goal for Advocate parents is for their child’s choices and beliefs to culminate in a cause that they are able to act on, contributing to the world around them.
If all this independence is taken to heart, it can cause some trouble for Advocate parents though, as their children move into the naturally rebellious phase of adolescence.  If Advocates’ children take a contrarian approach, adopting beliefs that violate their parents’ own well-developed principles, Advocates are likely to feel like their children are pointing out their flaws by following another path, a hurtful thing to such a sensitive personality type.
A Job Well Done
Ultimately though, Advocate parents will realize that these conflicting beliefs aren’t a sign of their failure, but of their success in raising someone who did indeed learn to form their own ideals.  As they mature, Advocates’ children will also come to appreciate the combination of independence and personal responsibility they were raised with.  So long as their child grows up with a firm understanding of the difference between right and wrong and is able to fight for a cause they believe in, striving to be the best they can be, Advocate parents will be satisfied with what they’ve accomplished together with their child.
6. Career Paths
Advocate Careers
Advocates are likely to find that most corporate career paths are not designed for them, but for those focused on status and material gain.  This doesn’t mean that people with the Advocate personality type struggle to see viable options though.  In fact, they are likely to face the opposite problem – many Advocates struggle to begin a career early on because they see ten wildly different paths forward, each with its own intrinsic rewards, alluring but also heartbreaking, because each means abandoning so much else.
Truth, Beauty, Purpose
First and foremost, Advocates need to find meaning in their work, to know that they are helping and connecting with people – an Advocate Ferrari salesperson is a non-sequitur.  This desire to help and connect makes careers in healthcare, especially the more holistic varieties, very rewarding for Advocates – roles as counselors, psychologists, doctors, life coaches and spiritual guides are all attractive options.
Advocate careers
Advocates’ needs don’t end at meaning though – any productive work can be rationalized to be meaningful, as any productive work helps someone, somewhere.  Advocates crave creativity too, the ability to use their insight to connect events and situations, effecting real change in others’ lives personally.
For Advocates, money and Employee of the Month simply won’t cut it compared to living their values and principles.
Two Roads Diverged in a Yellowed Wood
These needs are hard to meet in a corporate structure, where Advocates will be forced to manage someone else’s policies alongside their own.  For this reason, people with the Advocate personality type are more likely to, despite their aversion to controlling others, establish their independence by either finding a leadership position, or simply starting their own practice.  As independents, sole proprietors in the parlance of business, Advocates are free to follow their hearts, applying their personal touch, creativity and altruism to everything they do.
This is the most rewarding option for Advocates, as they will step out of the overly humble supporting and noncompetitive roles they are often drawn to, and into positions where they can grow and make a difference.  Advocates often pursue expressive careers such as writing, elegant communicators that they are, and author many popular blogs, stories and screenplays.  Music, photography, design and art are viable options too, and they all can focus on deeper themes of personal growth, morality and spirituality.
Where Advocates fall flat is in work focusing on impersonal concerns, mundanity, and high-profile conflict.  Accounting and auditing, data analysis and routine work will leave people with the Advocate personality type fidgety and unfulfilled, and they will simply wilt under the scrutiny, criticism and pressure of courtroom prosecution and defense, corporate politics and cold-call sales.  Advocates are clever, and can function in any of these fields, but to be truly happy, they need to be able to exercise their insightfulness and independence, learn and grow alongside the people they are helping, and contribute to the well-being of humanity on a personal level.
7. Workplace Habits
Advocates in the Workplace
Advocates have pretty tall demands when it comes to a satisfying work environment.  Not only does this personality type need to be able to express their creativity and insight, Advocates need to know that what they are doing has meaning, helps people, leads to personal growth and, all the while, is in line with their values, principles and beliefs.
Oftentimes the best way for Advocates to achieve this is to not have to answer to others’ rules at all – to be their own boss, neither above nor below anyone else, just directly interacting with the people and ideas that are important to them.  All that being said, Advocates are a clever and inspired group, and with a few of the right conditions, most any position can be made to work.
Advocate workplace habits
Advocate Subordinates
As subordinates, Advocates are likely to chafe under hardline rules, formal hierarchies and routine tasks.  People with the Advocate personality type value diplomacy and sensitivity, and the more democratic and personal their manager’s style is, and the more they feel their independence and input are valued, the happier they’ll be.  Advocates act on their convictions, so when they do something, it’s something that has meaning to them – if those actions come under criticism, even justified complaints, but especially unwarranted ones, their morale is likely to tank spectacularly.
A manager’s values need to be naturally aligned with their Advocate subordinates for both parties to be most effective.  Though usually idealistic, if they feel in conflict, Advocates can lose touch with that sense and end up all too bitter.  But if it’s a balance they can handle, with a little encouragement every now and then, Advocates will be hardworking, trustworthy, and more than capable of handling their responsibilities and professional relationships.
Advocate Colleagues
As colleagues, Advocates are likely to become quite popular, being seen as positive, eloquent and capable friends, identifying others’ motives and defusing conflicts and tension before anyone else even senses a disturbance.  Advocates are likely to prioritize harmony and cooperation over ruthless efficiency, encouraging a good, hardworking atmosphere and helping others when needed.  While this is usually a strength, there is a risk that others will take advantage of Advocates’ commitment to their responsibilities by simply shifting their burdens onto their more dedicated Advocate colleagues’ desks.
It should also be remembered that at the end of the day, Advocates are still Introverts (I), and their popularity isn’t always welcome – they will need to step back and act the lone wolf from time to time, pursuing their own goals in their own ways.  An unhealthy version of this tendency may pop up if Advocates sense that their values are being compromised by a more ethically relaxed colleague.
Advocate Managers
As managers, Advocates are often reluctant in exercising their authority, preferring to see their subordinates as equals, coordinating and supervising people, leaving the technical systems and factual details to more capable hands, and working hard to inspire and motivate, not to crack the whip.  That’s not to say that people with the Advocate personality type have lax standards – far from it – as Advocates’ sense of equality means that they expect their subordinates to be as competent, motivated and reliable as the Advocates themselves.
Though sensitive, understanding, principled and just, able to appreciate individual styles and to make accurate judgments about others’ motivations, if a subordinate’s actions or attitude undermines Advocates’ ethics or values, they will find little comfort in these qualities.  Advocates have no tolerance for lapses in reliability or morality.  But, so long as no such lapse occurs, Advocates will work tirelessly to ensure that their subordinates feel valued and happy.
8. Conclusion
Advocate Personality – Conclusion
Few personality types are as passionate and mysterious as Advocates.  Your imagination and empathy make you someone who not only cherishes their integrity and deeply held principles but, unlike many other idealistic types, is also capable of turning those ideals into plans, and executing them.
Yet Advocates can be easily tripped up in areas where their idealism and determination are more of a liability than an asset.  Whether it is navigating interpersonal conflicts, confronting unpleasant facts, pursuing self-realization, or finding a career path that aligns well with your inner core, you may face numerous challenges that at times can even make you question who you really are.
Advocate (INFJ) personality – END
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On This Day In:
2018	A Gardening Goal: Feed The Flowers
2017	Freakishly Happy Cowboy
2016	One More, Please
2015	Infinite Adventure
2014	Unpaved
2013	Headstones
2012	Keeping Young
2011	Lessons Well Learned

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