An enjoyable activity!

I came across a very encouraging website yesterday which can be found at www.viacharacter.org. The home page states: ‘In the early 2000s, something groundbreaking occurred in the social sciences. Scientists discovered a common language of 24 character strengths that make up what’s best about our personality. Everyone possesses all 24 character strengths in different degrees, so each person has a truly unique character strengths profile. Each character strength falls under one of six broad virtue categories which are universal across cultures and nations.’ The six virtues are Wisdom, Courage, Humanity, Justice, Temperance and Transcendence. Under these virtues are the 24 character strengths which include such things as creativity, curiosity, judgement, love of learning, perspective, and bravery.

The Via Institute offers us a free survery to ascertain what our unique blend of character strengths is. The survey takes about 15 minutes to complete. I love what they say about the uniqueness of each individual. “The number of potential character strengths profiles is exponentially greater than the number of people living on the planet.” Wow! That’s a mindblowing and exhilarating thought!

I did take the survey and was astonished at how accurate it seemed to be. I really enjoyed reading the descriptions they offered for each character strength. For instance, Honesty is described as ‘speaking the truth, but more broadly, presenting oneself in a genuine way and acting in a sincere way; being without pretense; taking responsibility for one’s feelings and actions.’ I liked that more extensive definition.

I think we all love taking surveys that give us more knowledge about ourselves. This one is a truly enjoyable one. I hope you get as much pleasure from taking it as I did!