I am one of those people blessed with an abundant manifestation of the four temperaments🤣. No, I do not have a personality disorder🤣. I am just someone who is blessed to be everything, depending on the occasion.
When in my prime, in my full work prime, I am CHOLERIC. My choleric nature is so strong that it can face any superior squarely🤣. I can’t stand redundancy, mediocre or nonchalance at work place. Worse still, I can’t stand bullies or people who try to intimidate others. I don’t care how rich, wealthy or domineering such people could be, I face them as if they are as wee as mosquito. I remember an incidence early last year, when I fired at an elderly man who had been bullying me for a time at work place. Truth be told, I wasn’t the only subject of his diapers wearing attitude; I had seen him talk to people arrogantly and disrespectfully, people who were way older than me. This man doesn’t want to hear other people’s opinions, and always carried on as if his thoughts were the best thing after shawarma.
Well, on this very day, I had had enough. We were having a strategic emergency meeting and I was not only the youngest, but also the only woman in a room filled with testosterones. This man had lashed out at almost everyone in the room at every point, insisting I wrote down only what he said and ignore other people’s opinions; I was the secretary. Everything went down south when he decided to bring his uncouth self to me. I confronted him and asked why he doesn’t listen, and yet expect people to jump at his opinions. After saying my piece, I walked out on him.
Let’s just say everyone didn’t see it coming. Ironically, about 2/3 of the men would later commend me for speaking out. They told me how they never like the man. Oh well, FBI Ifenla to the rescue🤣. I have zero tolerance for bullies.
So yes, I am very work oriented. I’ve always been right from my university days. I was an exco almost all through my 6 years on campus😎😀. I was an exco during my NYSC, and I was a coordinator while in law school. I was the National Director of Communications and Programs of a political party. I would say that my choleric nature bailed me out several times because I majorly worked with elderly men. Of course, I wasn’t scared to go toe to toe, or ruffle some feathers when necessary. You can’t be fickle minded when working in a political party in Nigeria. You must have a mind of your own, and be courageous to turn up everyday, as bold as a lion.
My SANGUINE nature is one extreme side of me that I love. Of course, I only do this with people I can be vulnerable with: friends and family. Fortunately for me, I come from a family of comedians: from my mum to my siblings, we all have something unique about our sanguine natures. When I am in that prime, I go all out: uninhibited, unrestrained, funny, jovial and extremely playful. The same energy that propels me when I’m putting on my boss lady hat also drives my sanguine nature.
I love art and anything creativity. I can’t think of a time when I wasn’t a creative person. If this side of me was dominant, I would have been an actor, painter, model or dancer. Fortunately for me, my MELANCHOLIC nature has always found a way to find expression from my childhood till date. I took part in cultural dance while in primary and secondary school. I was in a drama subgroup (even though I was primarily in school to study law), in my fellowship in Uni. I was a drama coordinator during my NYSC. I was a dance coordinator in law school😁. If I got an opportunity to perform on stage in my spare time, I certainly will.
Now, even though melancholy isn’t my predominant temperament, that personality finds expression in several areas of my life: dressing, hair style and everything. I am presently coordinating a team of screenwriters for an upcoming TV series. Yes, I am a scriptwriter😁; I have always been, right from my secondary school: I used to interpret yoruba novels into English Language. Being in a drama unit in Uni helped me improve on that skill. I have done quite a few works with a couple of Nollywood Actors: Bayo Alawiye and Yemi Blaq. I published a book, “Hope Alive” some years back on Okada Books. I think I have starved this part of me for years, and now it is refusing to be placed in the backstage. Time will tell.
My PHLEGMATIC nature find expressions in lending help to people. I am that person that will go to any length to render help, or reduce burdens on people. I like to think that this particular temperament is the centerpiece of everything I do. Again, it reinforces and fuels my strict value towards rendering service to other people, no matter their age or status. I am that SUPPORT SYSTEM every team desires to have onboard. I won’t try to take the shine from whoever is my team lead, but I will give them a run for their money behind the scene, just to get the best of their potential🤣. No matter what temperament cap I am putting on, KINDNESS is always center to my soul, thanks to the ministry of Ruach Hakodesh in my life. I can’t be nice to everyone, but KINDNESS is a grace I try to extend to everyone.
One beautiful thing I love about myself is how I allow myself to “submit and serve” people/friends, especially those who I find to have the same choleric tendencies as I do. However, what defines this output is how valuable those people are to me. I can “serve” anyone who is younger than I am, in as much as my self worth isn’t to be compromised with.
Another blessing about my unique multi personality display, is how they compliment themselves, and also come to the fore depending on what is at stake. If I was a team member on a visit to an orphanage, my creative, compassionate and outgoing personalities will come out. I would be singer, hugger and hypeman. If I was the team head for the same occasion, the uniqueness of my team members would determine if my choleric tendency would be needed.
My ability to control my temperaments isn’t because my emotional intelligence is perfect. It is simply because I consciously subject these traits under the strokes and surrender of the Holy Spirit. He is my enabler, the prime influencer who regulates my actions. So, when I think of a life partner, I imagine that my husband could have any kind of personality: the most important is how much overshadowed he is by the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Because then, it will no longer matter what psychology says about his personality: it would be about how He is daily reflecting and mirroring the Spirit who is at work in him.
Selah!