Unravelling My Thoughts

Meet the Choleric!

This is my secondary temperament, and I have a brother and cousin who both have this as a dominant temperament.

Like the other temperaments, this one is both beautiful and ugly at the same time. It's not a disorder, mind you, but just is as it is. Again, there is variance within these traits, so not all Cholerics will fit every last one of them.

They are the innovators with great optimism and strong intestinal fortitude. They are driven toward their goals, and they know where they are going in life. Now, don't step in these people's way unless you feel you can keep them from running you over. They often don't see the small details or obstacles that could possibly be in their ways of accomplishing their goals. They particularly do not like to hear that they are wrong.

They are self-sufficient and determined to be right about nearly everything. Some of them will not admit they are wrong, even if it is blaringly obvious that they are. The stubbornness is much more verbal than with the Phlegmatic. They can come off as rude and overbearing, if they don't watch their tongues closely. They may seem to have lack of compassion for other people, at times. They believe, since they can do something, then others should be able to do it just as well, which has good and bad connotations to it, depending on whom they are speaking of. They are great motivators, in that they know how to put people in their places, as far as seeing the big picture, instead of focusing on small problems.

Like other temperament types, however, they don't often think that the other person might think in different ways than they do. A person of Melancholy temperament, for instance, can see the small details, but has trouble seeing how it fits into the grand scope of things. Cholerics see the big picture very easily. The temperament of ChlorMel is the making of a very dynamic leader, who has the big picture and the small details in mind--Don't bother debating them, if you don't know your facts, and the latter goes for MelChlors also. This mix of two very different poles of temperament could lead to problems, depending on social circumstances and variances of temperament.

There's a huge difference between the Phlegmatic and Choleric temperament, also. The Phlegmatic would see something that has to be done and hope that someone else will eventually take care of it, but the Choleric will see that same thing and charge in to do something about the problem. The Choleric doesn't ask why, doesn't deny that he/she can do it, and doesn't bother worrying about how it is going to get done.

I will end on another good note. I do believe that the optimism of the Choleric is breath-taking. Some of the great innovators of our day are determined Cholerics who get back up no matter how many times they get knocked down. When you tell a Choleric he/she can't do something, then the challenge is on, for better or worse.

Do you think you are of the Choleric temperament? Let me know if I missed anything.