Getting to Know You...

Know thyself.

Four friends would get together and play cards. Mr. Fun liked to play, yes, for the fun of it. Somewhat serious about the game, he more liked the idea of getting together with buddies and "yuking it up." Ms. right was concerned with everyone following the rules of the game, keeping it moving ahead and on the level. Mr. Myway was intent at winning the game and often reacted with overly strong emotion. Ms. Easy couldn't care less about the game, winning or losing, and enjoyed hanging out. she would sometimes reveal her hand as she talked. This made Mr. Myway and Ms. Right agitated. Mr. Fun found it comical.

It is thought that there are four basic temperaments: Sanguine (the fun way), Melancholy (the right way), Choleric (my way) and Phlegmatic (the easy way). Each one runs on a continuum, and people normally have characteristics from any or all of the categories. In relationships, opposite temperaments often attract and can enhance, but they also can clash, causing conflict and heartache. Counselors are finding that when people learn about temperaments, a great cosmic light bulb is illuminated. Not every approach and reaction to life can or should be categorized, but understanding our basic make-up and motivations and the way we interact with others can indeed change our lives.

Understanding temperaments can take us from thinking people different and therefore wrong to different but perfectly okay.

If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? (1 Corinthians 12:17 NASB)

-taken from Coffee Break Devotions: Cappuccino, p. 118-119