Hello friends!

Well, what a whirlwind my life has been since my last check in. I am currently in Ho Chi Mihn City, in Southern Vietnam. But between here and my last check in from Bali, my friend and I spent a few days in Cambodia at Angkor Wat and what an experience that was! We only had three days to tour around this ancient metropolis which we jam-packed with tours and cultural experiences.

Having a tight schedule, in a hot climate, within a third world country can be stressful at the best of times. But when you have two people travelling together who are complete opposites when it comes to what their body needs to stay healthy, including communication and social styles, it can be quite an……adventure!

Before we arrived in Cambodia, it became fairly obvious to me that my travelling buddy  was an Activator Health Type. You know,  the “go go go” types: up early, rushing around, to-the-point, expressive – sound familiar? Now I, on the other hand, am the Guardian Health Type: the steady, build-energy-during-the-day, empathic, nurturing type.

My girlfriend wasn’t familiar with ph360 or the Health Types (take the Health Type Test here) before she arrived, so when I started sharing my knowledge with her, she was floored at how accurate and full on the Health types were. Soon, we were sharing jokes between us like “You are such an Activator”, and “Of course you want to do that Ms Guardian” and it became apparent to me that as fantastic as it was to have ph360’s personalized health profile to learn more about myself, it also made me aware and accepting of other people’s Health Type tendencies.

Being a sensitive empathic person with highly attuned emotional intelligence (as my Health Type outlines), it would have been very easy for me to misinterpret and internalize the abrupt and sometimes aggresive approach my girlfriend uses to express herself. I could have easily interpreted her expressiveness as a personal affront to me. But through ph360, I learned that this is just how she naturally expresses herself in a very healthy way. She isn’t an “angry” person per se, it is merely how her DNA and genetics biology is hardwired to communicate. She wasn’t angry at me, and she may not be angry at all – it just comes across that way and that is perfectly healthy way for her to be.

For a sensitive Guardian, this was so liberating! It allowed me to let her animated expressiveness wash over me, instead of absorbing and misinterpreting her emotions. It also made me realize I have dated an Activator in the past, and if I knew all this about his “anger issues” 5 years ago, I would have been a lot more understanding! LOL

Oh well, everything happens for a reason.