Actually, it’s often called Passive Aggressive…

  And, to tell you the truth, I had to go look it up to see what it means. I’ve heard it used a lot when talking about certain people or particular personalities that we all know. 

Essentially, it’s a description of someone who might agree to a certain task, but due to negative feelings they never follow through. Someone said they would, they didn’t, and probably never intended to in the first place!

One could say the person the person harbors feelings about certain people or things and never plan to follow through even when they said they would. They often dislike direct confrontation, and will simply agree with something but never have plans on completing what they agreed to.

The opposite personality is often called “assertive” – they say what they thing, mean what they say, and are not aggressive when responding or doing.

When researching this I found that a “p-a” personality needs to be treated by a psychologist/psychiatrist, and they may never ever “fix” themselves. But what it takes is learning how to manage the behavior that seems to be inherent to their makeup.

Why do we feel the need to label this behavioral glitch? I’m not sure… But we label everything else so I guess this is necessary as long as it gives me tools to understand they “why” and “how” to manage it. 

While reading through my research this morning, once again I wished for simpler times. Labels not required, and everything realizes that we are all different without trying to figure each other out by phrases that mean little until you find them in a dictionary!

I’m reminded that Jesus looked at his disciples and commented, “You are my friends…” (John 15:14) Among the men standing around we find all kinds of personalities – passive, aggressive, assertive, followers, leaders, doers, thinkers… This is probably a lengthy list! 

It makes me to consider those around me and I find that in my various circles I have the same kind of people connected to me. And I ask this question, what is my label to them? 

This brings me to a thought… How well do you know yourself? It is mentioned that many different people have spoken all these years and centuries that it is wise to know yourself so you will know how to live in your sphere of influence. Maybe the exercise of deterring yourself will help you determine what others are like. With that knowledge you need not fear the results of a hundred confrontations. 

In fact, if you will simply strive to understand what’s going on with you and others, then life can be dealt with much easier. 

Go look at these quotes and think about all the approaches people have taken to understand… (Click Here)

By Michael Gurley

Making Sense of Life, One Thought at a Time!