Emotional and Mental Health - Emotional Climate

There are varying degrees of emotion in the human realm. We are not simply angry, sad, happy or fearful. We could be furious or irritated, overwhelmed with grief or unhappy, overjoyed or tickled, horrified or wary or any degree in between.

The fact is that positive emotions give birth to other positive emotions and negative emotions promote more negative feelings. Our thoughts feed off one another, and our thoughts and emotions influence our behavior.

Our negative emotions can affect our body's health as well, with psychosomatic illnesses. These are very real issues with no physical cause and can influence the longevity of our life.

Yet, when our attitude swings toward the positive, these same diseases disappear and our health actually improves dramatically. God gives us negative emotions to warn us of an unresolved conflict in our soul. It pays to pay attention to and to resolve these issues quickly.

Emotion is not influenced much by economic standing, relational status or our collection of material possessions. We can be happier as a poor person than a rich one, single rather than married, or in a one bedroom cottage instead of a mansion.

One person with horrendous life circumstances can be happier than someone who enjoys perfect health and material prosperity. Genetics even play a part in our overall satisfaction with life.

Melancholy personalities have a hard time seeing anything except through the filter of their negative persona; yet phlegmatic people will often view even the worse of circumstances with a positive outlook.

We tend to avoid people who are determined to see life negatively. Their favorite topics of conversation are their poor health and how unfair life is to them. They shoot holes in our hopes and dreams and bring us down to their level.

The presence of God's Spirit in our spirit is the biggest controller of our emotions; however, we also have the power to choose what our mind dwells on and what we allow to influence our life.

Prayer:

Father God, remind us that negative attitudes and feelings will prevent us from walking in Your Spirit (Galatians 5:15-25). They often deny us the opportunity to achieve Your preordained will for our life (Ephesians 2:10). We want to walk in Your ways and avoid the pitfalls caused by prolonged negative emotions

Help us to develop positive habits that will breed contentment and serenity. Cause us to take frequent moral, emotional and physical inventories in order to have the opportunity to bring any issues to You for resolution. Thank You for abiding in us and with us and for not forsaking us on this earth.

Thought for the Day:

As we face the sun (and the Son), we see a bright future and the only shadows in our life end up being behind us; people will remember us more for our attitude about life than for what we actually say and do.

God Uses Our Personaliity - The Sanguine

My purpose in discussing the various personalities is to help us to appreciate and to help one another. With different personalities we are better able to function in various aspects of life and to work together as a whole society. 

We can learn from one another and benefit from each other’s strengths, as we help each other with our weaknesses. We each have one of four predominant personality types with a few traits from the other types thrown into the mix. 

We may dislike some aspect of someone’s personality, but if we understand why they act as they do, it helps us to appreciate their good points rather than to focus on their negative aspects. 

It takes all sorts of people to make the world go around. The problem with personalities is that they are human and carnal.However, God is able to totally revamp our personality once we surrender our life to Him. 

He minimizes our weaknesses and enhances our strengths. The Sanguine personality is the last in my series:

The Sanguine personality is the life of the party. Give them plenty of time to be around other people. They love to talk, to tell stories and they have an appealing sense of humor. They captivate their audience with their enthusiasm and expressiveness. 

They make excellent actors. They are creative and colorful. Their energy and enthusiasm abounds. They make friends easily, but have very few deep, satisfying relationships.

They are compulsive talkers and exaggerate and elaborate on details. They are self-centered and have a loud laugh and voice. They tend to interrupt others in order for their opinion to be heard. 

They are demonstrative, bubbly and curious with wide-eyed innocence. They tend to be sincere at heart, they make life fun, and they can turn any disaster into something humorous.

They love to stir up excitement and to direct its flow. They prevent dull moments when they are around. They enjoy spontaneity and feel restricted by planning and routine. 

They are easily angered when they do not get their way and they never seem to grow up and mature. Never reject them, because it will devastate them. 

Tell them every day, that they are loved. Pamper them and nurture their need for attention. They dislike being alone.

They are appealing on the surface; however, some consider them phony and superficial. They tend to live only for the present, and dislike making plans for the future. They change their mind and mood without notice. 

Their inner child is their dominant ego state. They cannot remember names. Their enthusiasm often tires other people out. Their restless energy tends to get them in trouble at times. They complain when things do not go their way.

The Sanguine is the first to volunteer to help at home, at work and in the community, and are quite good at motivating others to help them. They thrive on compliments and look for the credit to be given to them. 

This makes them envied by others. They make decisions based on feelings and are easily distracted and have a penchant for wasting time.They are undisciplined and forget important appointments and obligations. 

They do not follow through on projects or keep priorities in order. They are disorganized and do not have the patience to listen to the whole story. They are fickle, forgetful and they make excuses for their failings. 

They need to keep a steady job in order to provide for their family. Help them, only when they ask for it.

They may be jealous when their significant others spend time away from them or with other people. 

Assure them of your affection for them and that you miss them. If they ever have to go away from home, they need to call home frequently, watch TV, listen to the radio and read books about people to reduce their anxiety about being alone. 

They can learn to find their joy in the Lord by deepening their personal relationship with Him and spending time in God’s Word.They can volunteer in children’s ministry, because children are always quick to give love.

Touching is very important to them. You can hold their hand, or touch their shoulder when you are talking to them. They rarely hold a grudge, and they apologize quickly. 

Provide them with an abundance of emotional and physical affection. Consistently commend them for their achievements and the service they render. Encourage them to put others above their self and to compliment their self when they do a good job.

Prayer:

Father God, help us to develop a relationship with You and fill our life with the love and attention we need. Please open doors for us to help others with our unique strengths. Comfort us when we are away from our loved ones. Reduce our penchant for sexual sins. 

Help us not to follow the crowd into sin, but to desire to please You more than our self and other people. Align our words and behavior with the precepts of Your Word. Enable us to deal constructively with our anger. Help us to grow secure in Your love for us, which will diminish our fear of rejection.

Thought for the Day:

Never condemn a Sanguine, but encourage them when they succeed. They can learn to anticipate the consequences of their actions in order to curb their impulsiveness and emotional outbursts.

References:

·        http://www.pastoral-counseling-center.org/Free-Temperament-Reports/Choleric-Helpful-Hints.htm

·        http://temperaments.fighunter.com/?page=phlegmatic

·        http://www.fighunter.com/index.php?page=temperaments

·       http://www.womenschristiantherapy.com/Phlegmatic_Personality_Type.pdf

·        http://www.refinedperspectives.com/personality-explained.html

God Uses Our Personality - The Choleric

My purpose in discussing the various personalities is to help us to appreciate and to help one another. With different personalities we are better able to function in various aspects of life and to work together as a whole society. 

We can learn from one another and benefit from each other’s strengths, as we help each other with our weaknesses. We each have one of four predominant personality types with a few traits from the other types thrown into the mix. 

We may dislike some aspect of someone’s personality, but if we understand why they act as they do, it helps us to appreciate their good points rather than to focus on their negative aspects. It takes all sorts of people to make the world go around. 

The problem with personalities is that they are human and carnal. However, God is able to totally revamp our personality once we surrender our life to Him. He minimizes our weaknesses and enhances our strengths. 

The Choleric personality is the first in my series: A choleric person is usually dynamic, influential, determined, independent, unemotional and dogged in the pursuit of their goals and dreams. They are bull-headed in many instances and do not discourage easily. 

The choleric is a good entrepreneur or a valuable sportsperson. They have so much confidence that they can take charge of any situation and make it successful. They usually are so busy with success in their chosen field that they have little time for family, ministry for the Lord or any other area of life that does not bring financial success and recognition.

A choleric will grow impatient with others and people find it hard to relax in their presence. They tend to be bossy, busy, quick-tempered, argumentative, uncompassionate and impulsive. They are driven and may drive others too. 

This may make others feel inadequate or depressed. They use, domineer and drive those around them to the point that others may avoid them; however they need and have very few friends. They seem to know it all and are very possessive of what is theirs.

However, they are assets in the workplace. They love change and have a compulsive need for variety in their life. They think that their way is right; and they have an answer for everything. They have no qualms about correcting what they perceive as faults in others, and they tend to be inflexible. 

They look at the whole picture and prefer to delegate the details. They have immediate and practical solutions to any problem and excel in emergencies. They are goal-oriented, organized, problem solvers, intense and they demand loyalty. 

They delegate to others, stimulate activity from others; and, as a result, motivate high production. They are born leaders, love challenges and thrive on solving problems and achieving success. Their decisions tend to be quick, decisive and sometimes rather tactless. 

They do not like to be forced to socialize or to do something they do not want to do. A choleric needs recognition for their accomplishments and opportunities to have their needs met. They need to be the leader at work, home and other areas of involvement. 

They love to make decisions and are good at it, so give them opportunities to be responsible for events and projects. Do not interfere with them, but give them full reign to use their potential. Learn to negotiate with them, rather than bucking their decisions.

Provide them with love and affection when they want it, but be careful not to smother them. They appreciate acts of service and cooperation more than physical touch and affection. They are uncomfortable around emotional outbursts, so learn to be more cognitive in your reactions to them. 

They will increase performance from others if they learn to be kinder, to slow down and look at all of the ramifications of their decisions and instruction before making them.

They will also have a more well-rounded personality, if they allow God to teach them to adopt people skills and to show more mercy and understanding of how their decisions will affect other people. 

Relaxing on vacations and in family time will help to mellow out the sharp edges of their personality. Surrendering their life to God will increase their productivity and soften their reactions to another person’s weaknesses.

Prayer:

Father God, Your Spirit helps us to replace painful memories, which inspire anger and vengeance, with opportunities to make happy memories. You enable us to control our anger. Help us to validate the rights and feelings of others rather than to employ strict methods to control or change them. 

Teach us to find our recognition from You and to recognize that our best success comes from You. Help us to have compassion and patience with the imperfections and idiosyncrasies in others.

Thought for the Day:

The choleric rebels against God when they think He is trying to control them; however, submission to His will unlocks their potential for fully achieving their ultimate goals.

References:

·        http://www.pastoral-counseling-center.org/Free-Temperament-Reports/Choleric-Helpful-Hints.htm

·        http://temperaments.fighunter.com/?page=phlegmatic

·        http://www.fighunter.com/index.php?page=temperaments

·       http://www.womenschristiantherapy.com/Phlegmatic_Personality_Type.pdf