Ditch Pushing Capacity

The motivational gift of encouragement (drawn form a people classification system I have been using for several years, and have collected a considerable amount of detail about) is the top "gift" for me. When I read the description of a typical "encourager" I thought someone had been peaking in my window it was so exact.

The Greek term "para-kalo" of which it is a rough translation means to come alongside (para) and call out (kallo) inquiries or words of encouragement...as a fisherman might do coming alongside another boat, "get any fish?"

Seeing a person organization, or community "stuck" creates almost and irresistible temptation to jump in an help, just as finding folks stranded by the side of the road is also impossible to ignore. Troubleshooting is one of life's truly delightful pleasures for me, and the tougher the puzzle is, the more I enjoy it. As most encourager-types would say, "if there isn't a challenge, why bother getting up in the morning?"

People with a dominant giver-financier motivational gift (my second in strength of the seven we all have to some degree or another), tend to run scenarios of cause and effect constantly. They can see long term how to get from one place to another through or around obstacles, once somebody shows them where the obstacles are. They typically ask, "where are you going, and how do you intend to get there?" Upon receiving a reply they might be heard to say something like you can't get there that way, but if you go over there, turn left, hang a right, and then go straight on, you can get there without a problem." They are especially good at long term routings of those in tight situations.

Encouragers are somewhat blind as to the presence of obstacles as well, and tend to be short-focus people. They are like small sailboats in a harbor which can turn on a dime and adjust course in a very tight space. They move fast and are agile. They tend to "Braille" their way through situations in which they find themselves.

When these two motivational gifts are combined in one person, they can deal with the long term routing, and Braille their way out of unexpected shorter-term situations. In other words they can get themselves or others out of just about any situation, no matter how tangled. I call that "ditch pushing", and it is of the two main tasks I do directly with individuals.

This ditch pushing activity integrates with the other main activity I find myself involved in with people Community animation. Pushing people out of ditches, for me, involves getting them back upon the road in order that they might be re-integrated in the community, benefiting both parties. In other words, I raise people up into institutions which are frequently the contexts within which modern Canadians find an outlet for their contributions to community, and in which they find acceptance and support as persons.

As with community animation, ditch pushing is not the main focus of my life and or activity. It is a tool, or rather an tactical-level capacity, which I am able to employ in the service of my larger tasks - it is not my main life-task itself

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