MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT TEMPERAMENT

From my article titled MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT TEMPERAMENT 1, I was talking about how Birth order influences or tweaks our temperament. I will like to start this article on that note.

It is important to also note that you can not be double Sanguine , or solely Choleric. Neither can you be fully Melancholy nor completely a phlegmatic. It has to be a blend of two temperaments with one being the primary temperament while the second remains the secondary temperament ( more on that later )

Back to birth order. Birth order affects temperament a lot. No matter your blend of temperament, if you are a first born, first son or first daughter, you are prone to be leader-like in your approach to life - it is inborn. That trait is present in every first born. Hence If you are not careful, you are prone to hastily conclude that such person has a choleric blend whereas, he/she is just exhibiting the first born trait.

However, it is also possible to be a first born and a choleric at the same time. For instance, my wife is a choleric and a first born at the same time ; that looks like a " double choleric " to me. If you are married to a first born child , understand that first borns don't like being told what to do. They don't like receiving orders, instead, they enjoy giving orders. Note that they are not trying to be stubborn or unnecessarily difficult, its just inherent in first borns - that is why we all need the Holy Spirit to help us regulate our tempraments so our weakneses wouldn't wreck our lives.

Secondly, on this note, I will like to talk about Last borns. Hmmm, last borns!!! Last borns by nature don't take things so serious as it is the case with first borns. Their philosophy is " take things easy "Though they are fun to be with, they consciously or unconsciously wait for others to make decisions for them. I can go on and on, but judging from the traits mentioned above, one can easily mistaken a choleric for a phlegmatic , just because he/she is exhibiting the traits of last borns. In essence, the choleric traits will be there , but the last born traits will always interfere with that of the choleric making such persons behave like phlegmatics momentarily.

Therefore, a first born chlor/San can relate to life quite differently from the way a last born chlor/San does. That is why we need to understand these things with precision so we don't get confused along the line. Either you are a first born or a last born, your basic temperaments remains and will not change but you can have such interferences as occasion demands and that will be a direct result of your birth order.

What of middle borns? The middle borns are quite stable and their temperaments are the easiest to identify. Come to think of it, you are not First and you are not Last, what would you rather be ? You just want to be your original self all the time. That is why middle borns spring surprises in families often times ( more on birth order later )

In conclusion , never assume your temperament; get to know it for yourself. Don't wait for someone to do it for you. Get hold of all the books written by Tim Lahaye on Temperament right away. You can start with " WHY YOU ACT THE WAY YOU DO "

Watch out for my post titled MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT TEMPERAMENT 3 .