Earth Personality - Bright Side: Successful Building of Self-Esteem
Earth personality, as Independent-Libertarian, may be described as autonomous, spontaneous, communicative, self-aware, and, most of all, emotionally free and independent of fear, anger, and guilt concerning intimate and anonymous “Others.” Those people who can express themselves freely and attain enough personal satisfaction based on self-esteem and without feeling hurt when their favor remains unreciprocated can be considered truly emotionally independent. They communicate directly and verbally using the “I-message” expressing their own emotion,” rather than the “You-message” expressing blame. In this way, they request what they want from others based on a realistic assessment of the possibility, not the ideal. They tend to be honest in expressions of anger and sadness while accepting the humorous aspects of life. Such individuals can meet others halfway, compromising differences in opinions and values and entering into a voluntary contract with others. In this respect, they resemble people at Stage 2 to the extent that they may be liberal and interested in the self and personal life. However, they are less self-centered and show more consideration and respect for others. These individuals also have a greater tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity, by contrast with people at Stage 3.
Furthermore, they may consider setting emotional boundaries to be more critical than being empathic with others. Even if they feel concerned, they may show sympathy only when they feel it is needed. Even though they have neighbors, they are unlikely to actively interact with them nor attempt to identify common interests out of concern of invading their privacy.
Individuals with Earth personality use their own well-developed emotional and cognitive antennae to determine why people act the way they do. As a result, they display mercy, kindness, and generosity of their own free will and are unaffected by others’ refusal to reciprocate. Further, they are unlikely to be affected by insults because of well-established emotional boundaries, and they do not view the world in black and white. In this regard, they understand that problems stem from various, complex reasons, emerging as much as others as of themselves. While such individuals can be benevolent towards others, they will not always act so unless it provides immediate or long-term benefits or gains. An example of people with Earth personality may be well-meaning medical doctors[1] who are wary of becoming emotionally overinvolved with terminally ill patients due to the emotional toll should the patient die. Parents with Earth personality may be authoritative in applying a democratic decision-making process in their parenting. They are willing to let children make mistakes and learn from their own mistakes. Additionally, they respect children’s volition as they transition to independent adults, without excessive fear or anxiety about their children’s future.