Your Seven Ingredients That Help Make Your Personality

Before I get started on this post, I'd like to direct everyone to E.J. Wesley's blog.  E.J. is a very talented writer and has great info posts on many subjects.  E.J. is going to host a Twitter party later this month!  How fun!  Let's all bring something, like ourselves to this event.  E.J.'s Twitter party is for the genre New Adult Literature.  This category is for young adults who have outgrown YA, but are not quite ready for the mature adult genres.  What a great idea, don't you think?  I encourage all of my followers to go to E.J's current blogpost and get the info. The Open Vein E.J. Wesley Hey, let's party together and help E.J. have one of the most successful Twitter parties ever.  If you don't know how to participate in a Twitter party, E.J. explains that too.  And while you're there, why not sign up to follow The Open Vein Blog.  You won't be disappointed.

Now, on to today's subject, our personalities.
 

Intro

We are all unique, aren't we?  There is no two of the same personality.  There are plenty of similar personalities.  That's why we have friends.  We may be the one unique in our families, but guaranteed that somewhere in our ancestral line was a relative just...like...us.  

The study of personality traits is fascinating, and it often can bring enlightenment about those we are drawn to, and those we can't stand, to those we get along so well with and those we fight with a lot (btw, sorry, DIL, for my anger awhile ago).  Why do we get angry the way we do, over the things we do?  Why do we laugh at certain things when our other family members just plain don't get it?  Why must we be the serious, responsible one while our siblings have such a 'who cares' attitude about life and getting things done?

Let's take a look at seven ways our personalities develop.  You may not agree with all of these, and that's ok.  After all, we are different, and this is how I see me, I see you, I see all of us, and I see meaning in the Universe.  Nothing supposedly happens that wasn't planned for.  Therefore, every ingredient in each of us is there for a reason.

Ingredient: Western Astrology

Ahh, so many of you are nodding yes, because you knew I was going to talk about this.  Very good!  You know me well.

There are 12 Zodiac signs in Western Astrology, beginning with Aries and ending with Pisces.  As I've mentioned before, we are coming out of the age of Pisces (intuitiveness, spirituality) and soon entering fully into the Age of Aquarius (enlightenment, intellect).  I'm not going to go into great details on each sign because most of us get lost in the deeper parts of Astrology.  Suffice it to say, that each sign was assigned based on degrees of celestial longitude, and generally speaking a sign begins around the 22nd of the month, ending around the 21st of the next month.  Again, this is general, for Zodiac signs are much more complicated than this.

Most of us know our Sun Sign, which is the basic of our sign.  In other words, "Dude, what sign are you?"  

 

Allow me to introduce myself to all of you.  I am a Cancer, a water sign (there are 3 of us) and I love to say that I water the earth with my tears, because I love crying whether I want to or not.  That's just part of my Zodiac personality.  While many of you are not quite the 'true' definition of your signs, I am a full Cancer, and I love my sign.

To fully understand our sign sign, we are divided by elements.  Pisces, Cancer, and Scorpions are water signs - we are emotional and intuitive.  Libra, Aquarius, and Gemini are the air signs - they use their minds and are the communicators of the Zodiac.  Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius are fire signs - they want to be in control.  Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn are earth signs - they need stability and are practical and patient.

As far as our signs go, there are the signs we can get along with and the suns we can't.  I, a Cancer, cannot get along with Leos, those sunshiny, look at me, firey people when they are in their negative side.  However, on their positive side, they are such amazingly loving people, fiercely protective of those they love.   I don't like working for Aries.  They are demanding and geared towards work only.  I love Virgos and Libras.  Virgos are the counselors of the Universe and so insightful, and Cancers love counseling, while Libras weigh all things and make decisions equally.  I'm married to a Taurus - he provides the stability in my life.

So, first you have your Sun Sign, then your Element Sign.  After that is your individual sign and its traits.  Again, this is simplicity.  Our signs are so much more complicated than this, depending on things like what time you were born and the alignment of planets at your birth, etc.

Each sign is also Identified by a symbol.  For instance, mine is a crab.  Believe me, that fits.   Taurus is a bull.  Trust me, they are.  Capricorns' sign is a mountain goat, and they do slowly reach for that goal, doing whatever is necessary to reach that point on that mountain.  Remember, stability and a stubbornness to achieve what they're after.

Take a look at yourself and your family/friends.  Look the personalities up on line, and you'll be surprised to find this is true for all of us - which signs we veer to and which signs we don't like.

Tell us your sign.

Ingredient: Chinese Astrology

 

What?  More astrology, you ask.  Yes, just this one more.  Chinese Astrology differs from Western Astrology because it goes by the year you are born in.  For instance, I was born in 1950 and my son was born in 1986.  That makes us Tigers.   And how I love tigers.  Several of my stories are about a tiger.   For a double whammy, my husband's year of birth makes him an Ox.  A bull/ox.  And there's his personality.  

The Chinese Zodiac uses twelve animals:  Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.  None are bad signs, all are respected.  My Ange is a Snake.  Now, picture a Tiger and a Snake together.  Tiger and Snake, Cancer and Leo.  We misunderstand each other a lot and fight - well, how many hours are there in a day?  But the end result is that we do love each other.  Tigers are unpredicatble, rebellious, quick tempered and passionate.   Snakes are wise, mystic, self-doubting, and purposeful.

Of course, there is much more to the Chinese signs than this, but I'll keep it simple.

What is your Chinese Zodiac sign.  Let us know.

Compare your sign with your friends and family.

Ingredient:  Numerology

You may or may not believe in numerology, and that's ok, but funny thing is, it gives us another piece to the puzzle of who we are.  Again, as simply as I can (because numerology can be very detailed), you take the numbers from your date of birth and your numbers for your name.  warning - math required. 

 

Life Path Number:

For instance, mine is July 17, 1950.  July is the 7th month, so I add:  7+17+1950 = 1974.  Next, I take 1974 and add those together:  1+9+7+4 = 21.  Then I add 2+1, and arrive at my Life Path Number, which is 3.  

3 = I entered Earth with a high level of creativity, mainly in writing and communicating.  Yep, that's true.  And there's much more to a 3 than this, such as sociable and a good listener.

Find your Life Path.  You will need to go online to find what your Life Path Number means.

Your Basic Numerology Destiny Number

For this, you need a chart:

Here is a simple one that I found at http://www.themanyfacesofgod.com/numerology_04.html  

warning:  be careful when browsing any site.  Many sites harbor viruses/trojans, etc.

       

Write out your full name.  Then find the number that corresponds to each letter.  For instance, when I do this, I come out with 75.  Of course, I'll want to add 7+5 = 12, then 1+2 = 3.  Another 3!  The number 3 means as I grow, I will move more and more towards my creative side.  I will also spread optimism and cheerfulness.  A big part of my mission here is to raise the spirits of my fellow man.  I am a natural salesman.  Friends are extremely important.

So there you go.  To me, it all sounds like me.

Let's look at another facet of ourselves.

Ingrediant:  Color Coding

 

Have you discovered your color?  Mine is heavy blue, with some red.  Now, what am I talking about, you ask.  

Dr. Taylor Hartman discovered this technique years ago.  

Blue - do-gooders, love with passion, loyal.  Blue is the most controlling of colors, being insecure, judgemental, unforgiving.

Red - power wielders, assertive, confident, logical.  However, Reds often have to be right.  They come across harsh and critical.  They have controlling and domineering personalities.

White - peacekeepers, kind, patiend, devoid of ego.  They don't like to share what they are feeling.  They won't express conflict.

Yellow - fun lovers, enthusiastic, spontaneous.  They easily make friends, but can be self-centered.  They often have lots of friends, but on a superficial level.

warning:  these are only a sample of the color personalities.  You really need the book/questions to find who you are and your traits.

We may be a mixture of any of these colors, or stongly one color with hints of another.  

How do you discover what color you are?  I'd suggest getting a copy of The Color Code and using that, or you can go online and pay for testing, which costs much more than the book.

 

paperback:  The Color Code by Dr Taylor Hartman  $15.49

Kindle version:  The Color Code by Dr Taylor Hartman  $12.99

Through the series of questions, you find out more about your personality, and this adds one more piece to who you really are.

What color(s) do you think you are?

Ingredient:  Past Lives/Other Side Personality

You may or may not believe that you have lived past lives before this one.  But, for the sake of this article, let's say you have had at least one past life (I've been told this is my 3rd time on Earth).

If past lives does happen, then our essence, our spiritual selves is coded by those experiences.  This means, with each succeding life, we bring memories or parts of those personalities forward.  I have a particular interest in a certain subject.  When I was told of one of my past lives, it made sense why I was interested in that subject.  

Do we live in an eternal state and right now are just confined in our mortal bodies?  That's for each of us to decide, but one thing is obvious.  Our amazing children come to us with their own personalities.  We think we're going to give birth to this sweet child and then mold them to fit into adultlife, but any parent will tell you, their children had their own personalities from the day they were born.  And their own interests.  My son loves to fish and always had.  We don't know why.  We don't fish.  We don't have relatives who love to fish.  It is his own trait that he brought into this life with him.

Do you have one interest or trait, but you don't know why?

Now, for you more logical readers:

Chromosomes, DNA, and Genes

 

Our personalities and how we look come from our ancestry.  Some of our personality come from our genetic material in our chromosomes.  Do you have a family member that you identify most with?  I want to tell you about a dream I had once.  I was so different from the rest of my family - tiny, easy going, but quick tempered.  One night I had a dream and my great-grandmother on my father's side came to me, and in the same angry temperament that I often display, she said, "you think you're different from your family.  You're not.  You're just like me."  Interesting?  Well, there's more to the story.  A few months later, my Dad was showing a picture of women standing in a group.  He was  looking for his grandmother.  He said, "I'm not sure which one of these is her,"  as he browsed the photograph.  In an instant, I said, "There she is."  And he said, "You're right.  How'd you know?"  Yes, our relatives and ancestors recognize our connections to them even if we don't.

My cousins on my dad's side and I all have that same temper...

Do you favor a certain relative that reminds you of you?

Life Experiences

 

There is little doubt that our life experiences make us who we are and help to shape our personalities, good or bad.  This includes our womb time, such as in Vanishing Twin Syndrome.  My experiences of living in several states helped shape who I am today, my likes and dislikes.

My experiences of living with Asians and Polynesians in Hawaii have made me more giving, respectful, and thoughtful of others.  Living in the Midwest made me more stoic.  We kept much to ourselves.  Living out West has really shaped my personality.  Westerners tend to be quiet people.  How I dress was greatly influenced by California and Hawaii.

Traumatic experiences affect us greatly and have a strong effect on our personalities.

How has your life experiences shaped your personality?

Ingredient:  The Human Brain

 

Our own individual brains also make us who we are.  Research is still going on.  The brain, as we know, is quite complicated, but different regions of the brain react to different stimuli.  For example, the medial orbitalfrontal cortex is associated with how extraverted we are.

Let us not forget to include mentall illnesses in the make-up of our personalities.  Take a look at this chart from http://www.bipolar-lives.com/bipolar-brain-imaging.html 

    

There is so much that we still don't know about the brain.  Thank heavens research continues in this area, and we are learning more and more everyday.  Did you know there are little receptor terminals where neurotransmitters 'dock'?  In other words, molecules are specifically shaped for certain neurotransmitters.  This is a key in understanding certain psychological needs and attributes.

Does the brain and its activity fascinate you, or do you think it has nothing to do with your personality?

Last, but not least:

Gender Dispositions

 

We all know there is a difference in the way men and women react.  It's all based on the amount of male/female hormones.   As we know, this is a very simple look at genders.  This is also a very complicated area.  However, I will say this.  Although we women find we are the higher of the species, we don't hold anything against you guys.   Just kidding!

Years ago, the book Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus by author and relationship counselor John Gray was very popular.   I read it and I learned a lot from it.  Basically, men and women score love differently.  I wanted my husband to read the book, but he wasn't interested, so I bought him the calendar for Christmas.  One day, I was chatting away about this or that, and the poor man was trying to read a book.  He looked at me and suddenly a light clicked for him.  He turned to the calendar, read it again, and then went back to reading.  When he walked away, out of curiousity, I walked over and read the passage, which said something like, women don't always want your advice or to solve an issue for them.  They just want to talk about it.

If you've never read this book, I encourage you to do so. 

 

Here is the Amazon link for the book:

Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus  $16.02

Kindle version:  Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus  $9.99  

Have you read this book?  Do you find your partner and you have different male/female tendencies?

There are so, so many more wonderful books that define our personalities.  Maybe I'll cover them in a future post.  But these 7 ingredients helped me find who I truly am, and helped me to love myself and accept myself as I am, bringing into my life self-confidence and belief in myself.

Believe in Yourself and take the steps to discover you.  You'll see you are one of the best people on our Earth.

LHR (love, honor and respect), my friends and let us all PAWS for Success (Poets, Artisans, Writers supporting one another for Success)