I discovered a lot about myself when I I learned about temperaments, stopped comparing myself with others and expecting me to be like them. As if there is one only way to be.
There are four seasons and four basic temperaments. We are all a combination of them, with one of the temperaments predominating. They are connected to the elements of earth, air, water and fire, like the seasons of our lives.
We are born with a temperamental predisposition. If you have spent time with babies or young children, you know this to be true. Our temperament influences how we interact with the world and who we become.
The Elements and Temperaments
About 2500 years ago, Hippocrates identified the four humors in human nature, which we now refer to as temperaments. They are composed of elements, like the seasons of our lives. They impact our individuality.
Wouldn’t it be helpful to know your temperament and to identify whether you are in balance or not? That is one of the benefits of aging for me. I have experienced the seasons of the year, the seasons of life, and the elements. I know how they affect my body, mind and soul.
As Hippocrates explored, our temperaments influence how we get sick and how we heal. When we find balance in them, we have better health. At times, life throws us out of balance; we need to know how to recover it. Looking at our temperaments is a good place to begin.
You may have probably heard the temperaments before. They are: sanguine, choleric, melancholic and phlegmatic. We have all four within us, but there is one that is predominant, two others that are secondary, and one that is the most challenging.
Knowing Yourself
It took me many years to understand my temperamental bent, to accept rather than judge it. All of the temperaments can be in balance or not, each has its strengths and weaknesses. While learning about them, keep an open mind, and before determining someone else’s temperament, see if you can discover your own, which is more challenging but also more rewarding.
The sanguine temperament has the element of air, qualities of sociability, and light-heartededness. When there is too much air, sanguines’ attention spans can be short; they can be distractible. Imagine a butterfly, flitting from one flower to the next. Typically, the sanguine gets along well with others; they gravitate toward fun and excitement.
Fire is the primary element in the choleric temperament; it brings out strong drive and goal-orientation. A choleric’s strength is to initiate projects and to see them through. Too much fire is a weakness, a tendency to have angry flare-ups in the process of achieving goals. Cholerics seek challenges and are often in leadership roles. Like the sanguine, the choleric tends has an outward orientation.
You probably know melancholia as a state of sorrowfulness. The melancholic temperament is more than that; they tend to think and focus deeply, to relish finding answers to difficult problems. Connected to the element of earth, if there is too much, the melancholic tends toward gravity or seriousness . They may not be the life off the party (that’s usually the sanguine), but you would want one on your team to sleuth out the root of an ailment and make a treatment plan.
Lastly, the temperament associated with water is the phlegmatic. That’s the slow and steady one who embraces routines. Too much of the element of water brings out the downside of the phlegmatic temperament i- a stubborn resistance to change, compromise, and new ways of doing things. Both the melancholic and the phlegmatic are the more inward temperaments.
In a nutshell, the air-y sanguine likes to play, the fiery choleric is up for challenges, the earthy melancholic is a deep thinker, and the water-y phlegmatic goes toward comfort and routine.
Like I mentioned, we have one temperament that predominates. If you are wondering what your temperament is, consider yourself as a child, before you learned to express and balance all four temperaments.. Remember not to judge; each temperament has its strengths and weaknesses.
Looking back
For example, I was a quiet and serious child, who loved poetry and piano. I felt things deeply and searched for answers to questions about life. With many siblings and chances to learn social skills, I was not a loner, although I often lived in the ever interesting and sometimes foreboding terrain of my mind even when in the company of others. That’s the primary temperament, the melancholic in me.
A fiery element balanced this inward tendency. I remember as a child, when I was feeling confused by all that thinking, I would rearrange the furniture in the bedroom I shared with my sister. Only something big, physical and outward could bring balance to a bent toward deep thought. When I made my mind to do something, I would do it. Still do. At times, rearranging the furniture but more often, rearranging words on the page. That’s the expression of the choleric in me.
The phlegmatic temperament loves routines and comfort. I also have that expressed as an appreciation for consistency and domestic rhythms. Before I could create them for myself, I surrounded myself with people that were good at it. I have learned to create and sustain them for myself.
That’s my picture of a predominant temperament and the two secondary ones. For the challenging one, the temperament opposite melancholic is sanguine. That’s the one that brings levity to the gravity. That’s the one I have had to learn through life’s experiences and to practice consciously. Still.
When my life is out of balance, I tend to start holding back, thinking too much, losing levity. I then need to shore up on my sanguinity. I do that by spending time with friends, finding humor in life’s ironies and a breath of fresh air (both literally and figuratively). Amazing what a good laugh or a walk in nature will do for the soul!
That’s who I know myself to be. Staying healthy involves finding balance in these four temperaments., beginning with not taking things too seriously. Too much of any element, if not addressed earlier, eventually shows up in my body, as restlessness, fatigue or a range of other physical symptoms.
Consider the elements and you. What is your temperament?
If you want to learn more about temperaments, read Unpacking Guilt, A Mother’s Journey to Freedom. There’s a chapter on temperaments in it. It’s available on my website!
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