INTJ who practices NFP is a HSP has OCD and SAD and is an ACON seeks BFF... LOL, IDK, HMU, OK?*

Labels.

We all have a few we'd probably rather not have - divorced, survivor, autistic, drop-out, thirty-something, other, four-eyes, fat, loser.

However, it has really helped me to label things at times.  Naming our pain, naming what we're dealing with, calling it what it is.  There is power to bringing truth and reality to our problems.  As they say, admitting it is often the first step.    

When I discovered Meyers-Briggs personality types and took the test, I felt like someone had spied on the contents of my brains and written it down (I'm an INTJ to the max.)  In some ways it was a relief to feel so understood.  I could then read about how to maximize my strengths or work on my flaws as an INTJ.

When working with a therapist last year, I was able to identify that (God bless them), my parents (especially my father) have Narcissistic Personality Disorder.  It was as if a puzzle I'd been staring at my entire life finally looked like something and created a picture.  It was a relief to put a name to the various manifestations of NPD and move on to the healing phase and how to deal with that specific issue.

Last weekend, I discovered the work of Deacon James Keating.  He has fabulous insights to the human condition and healing.  He spoke about the necessity to bring our pain to the love of the Trinity.  And to bring that pain in all honesty.  We have to be real with God.  He talked about the need for silence in order to be in touch with our pain - we have to name it in order to overcome it.

When I think of the labels that have stung throughout the years, or the labels that help me name my pain so that I can heal from it - there are quite a few.  Satan often labels us in an accusing way, pointing out our flaws.  We need to label what pains us, and take that to God.  Then, we need to claim only what is helpful and reject the accusatory labels.

A recurring theme in Catholicism and in recovery has been bringing the pain to the light - naming it, being brutally honest about ourselves, living in reality - and taking that pain to the cross for healing. Naming it is not enough - we can get stuck in the analysis and diagnosis.  However, it has to be named. God can't heal what we don't acknowledge.

God is big enough to love us in spite of our labels, to take the name of what ails us and put it under The Name which is above every name, to see us for who we truly are, to call us Beloved, Child of God.  Those are labels that supercede all others.

*translation*

INTJ - introverted/intuitive/thinking/judging person who practices
NFP - natural family planning is a
HSP - highly sensitive person has
OCD - obsessive compulsive disorder and
SAD - seasonal affective disorder and is an 
ACON - adult child of a Narcissist seeks
BFF - best friend forever ...
LOL - [laughing out loud]
IDK - I don't know
HMU - hit me up
OK - okay?