Ep. 115 The Choleric: The Foundation Stone | Living Stones Series (Part 1)

[00:00:00] Hey friends, welcome back to the Nourished to Bloom podcast. This is a place where your faith meets your health, your identity, and your everyday life. Today we're going to continue the conversation from last week about being living stones, how God is shaping us, moving us, and placing us to build His kingdom. But today we're going to get really specific and practical because not every stone in a building serves the same purpose. And the question becomes, what kind of stone is going to be built in a building?

[00:00:30] What kind of stone did God create you to be? So this week we're starting a series all about the temperaments and how we can use the temperaments to really paint this picture of living stones and how when we are operating from our strengths and from our naturally God-given temperament, we can be placed as these living stones and help build a strong and beautiful kingdom all for His glory.

[00:00:56] Welcome to the Nourished to Bloom podcast, where your faith meets your health. I'm your host Kara Trochta, a registered dietitian and certified Catholic coach, and I'm here to help you cultivate a deeper connection with your body, your spirit, and the nourishment that sustains them both. In a world filled with noise and confusion about food, health, and body image, this podcast offers truth and healing from a Christ-centered perspective. Together we'll untangle the deep roots of diet culture.

[00:01:24] And discover what it means to truly care for ourselves through joyful nourishment of mind, body, and soul. We're here to dive into the transformative power of intuitive eating coupled with the rich teachings of our Christian faith.

[00:01:37] With every episode, I'll be cheering you on, offering insights, inspiration, and practical tools to help you heal your relationship with food and embrace the beauty of your body as a temple of the Holy Spirit with confidence and courage that can only be found in Christ. Join me as we journey together towards a more holistic approach to wellness, one that honors the wisdom of your body as God's creation, the teachings of our faith, and the unique purpose you're called to fulfill.

[00:02:08] You were made to bloom, to come into full beauty and health in order to bear good fruit for the Lord with your life. So if you're ready to nourish your body, feed your soul, and bloom into the best version of yourself, then you're in the right place and I'm so happy you're here. Welcome to Nourished to Bloom, where every day is a sacred invitation to thrive. Hey there, so glad to be spending some time here with you this week.

[00:02:37] And I love how last week's episode just really laid open a door to kind of start this series all about temperaments. It's been a while since we talked about temperaments on the podcast. I think it's something that is always beautiful to come back and revisit, especially in light of kind of these last couple of episodes where, you know,

[00:02:59] I was really kind of open and vulnerable and talked about how things just feel, you know, dry, like just kind of not sure what the Lord's doing with me, where he wants to put me. And then this beautiful image of the living stones that came from scripture last week.

[00:03:16] And so I just want to build upon that, pun intended, and really dig into the temperaments and how we can use this image of living stones and how the temperaments help paint this picture. Because the temperaments is essentially your God-given wiring. It's how you naturally think, feel, respond, and act.

[00:03:39] It's not necessarily who you have to be, but it's just kind of these natural tendencies, these natural strengths that you have, these natural areas of growth that you have, these areas of ideal situations where you operate really well. And so the whole idea behind the temperaments is really just to give you some insight into how God designed you to show up in the world.

[00:04:03] And if we paint this in the light of the living stones, building the kingdom of God, we can realize that each of these temperaments are all working together to build one structure. But there's really four types of stones. And when we're building this kingdom structure, like if we think of God building a cathedral or a spiritual house,

[00:04:27] not every stone is the same, but every stone is necessary for this building. And so they're all essential. And that's really what we're going to talk about over the next couple of weeks is each one of our temperaments and how, what kind of stone, what kind of living stone each of these temperaments naturally lends itself to building.

[00:04:47] And the idea behind this is to help you see what your natural temperament might be and then give you some, you know, kind of jumping off points of what are some of the natural strengths that you have that maybe you haven't seen as strengths before because they, you maybe don't like them.

[00:05:08] Maybe they need some refining or, or, you know, being given to the Lord to maybe be smoothed out or areas chipped away to be essentially placed in the right part of, of building his kingdom. But this idea is just to bring some practicality to it, that if you are struggling with some identity or not sure what the Lord is, is calling you to do the temperaments.

[00:05:33] Like I said, in last week's episode is a really good place to start building this out. And so to kick off this series today, we're going to talk about the choleric temperament. And if we think of the choleric temperament in the light of the living stones, it's a stone that can set direction and bear weight. It's really this idea of a foundational stone. And so why this fits in this choleric temperament is that this type of stone is strong and load bearing.

[00:06:01] It sets alignment for everything else and it provides structure and direction. We know that when something is being built, if we don't have a strong foundation, it, the building is not strong overall, right? Its integrity is compromised, right? And so this is that idea of a choleric temperament is really this foundational stone because just like these foundational stones, the choleric leads, they initiate and they build and carry responsibility.

[00:06:32] So now before you tune out and think, okay, I am not a choleric. This is not for me. I'm just going to turn this episode off. I want you to stay with me because the truth is, is that most of us have a dominant temperament, but we all have pieces of each of them. So even if you're not fully choleric, you're going to see yourself in this. And I'll give you an example.

[00:06:53] My primary temperament is sanguine, but for whatever reason, there are certain projects, certain activities, certain areas that a more choleric side of me comes into place, right?

[00:07:10] If I'm really aligned with a mission, if I'm really aligned with a particular organization and what they're doing, it becomes easy for me to kind of slip into some of these choleric tendencies to move that mission forward. Right? So my primary is sanguine and we'll get into sanguine next week, but sanguines have a really tough time with finishing a project. They have these big visions, these big pictures, but have a tough time getting from point A to point B. And that's me for a lot of things.

[00:07:40] I need a choleric in my life to help me with this. But I will say that, like I said, there's certain things that show up that I have these natural choleric tendencies that can show up and help me move things forward if the mission aligns. And if it's, you know, aligning with my motivation and things like that. Right? So the whole idea in this series is that you're going to learn about these different stones.

[00:08:03] And even if you don't possess this particular temperament, it starts to help you see other people as these living stones. To help encourage them to lean into their natural strengths. To help see how they and you and other people all come together to help build this kingdom and that each of these stones is necessary. If you live with people who are of another temperament, it starts to help you see how they are wired, how they operate.

[00:08:33] And it can help diffuse certain situations. It makes relationships stronger when you can see people from this God-given natural wiring and understand their perspective as well. So even if you're not a choleric, just stick with me because just understanding more about the temperaments is just beneficial all the way around. So what is the choleric? We talked about the choleric being that foundation, that foundational stone.

[00:09:02] So it's the builder, the leader, the initiator. So this is the woman who sees what needs to be done and does it. Has a to-do list and knocks things off that list, right? Checks the boxes. Can be quite amazing when you are not someone who operates that way, right? But the choleric takes charge naturally. They are decisive and action-oriented. And they have a strong sense of purpose and mission.

[00:09:28] So this is the woman who can walk into a situation and thinks, how do we fix this? What's the plan? Creates a plan of action that says, let's go. And starts the ball rolling. And so this might be you. You might be nodding your head right now. You may also be saying, yeah, that's me, but I don't really like this. And so I want to say this clearly. This is a gift. Your drive and your leadership, your ability to take action,

[00:09:55] is not something to tone down or push away. It's something that God intentionally gave you. You are often the one who is leading your family. You're organizing things behind the scenes. You're getting things done when no one else will. And so you help carry that vision forward. You provide structure and movement. You are that builder. But like every temperament, there tends to be the shadow side. So if you're someone who is a choleric, but you're like,

[00:10:25] I really don't like this about me. This is where we can get gently honest, right? Because that same drive when we are not living in this strength can turn into things like ungodly self-control and self-reliance, thinking that everything is on you and that you have to have control of every situation. It can turn into world or societal pressure to perform that you just have to knock things off the list

[00:10:53] because that's what everybody's expecting. You can easily get frustrated at a lack of progress or failure or people not getting their stuff done. So it creates tension in certain organizations or certain missions. And then that feeling like everything depends on you. If you don't do it, then who's going to do it? And so when you kind of are operating in the shadow side of this temperament,

[00:11:21] you might notice or it can show up as impatience with others, struggling to slow down. You have difficulty asking for help and you feel like I just need to do it myself. And underneath that all, there's this belief that you're operating from that if I don't do it, it won't get done and it won't get done right. And so I want to pause here because this is where coaching changes everything. Because that thought of if I don't do it, it won't get done and it won't get done right,

[00:11:51] it can feel true. But it's not always helpful. So I would ask you instead, is it true that everything depends on you? Or does that belief keep you in pressure and control? Because the shift for you as the cleric is from that self-reliance to one of surrender, from control to trust.

[00:12:16] And this is where you are that foundational stone with the Lord. Because when we go back to that image of being a living stone, you may be, you know, we talk about you're a builder, but you are not the ultimate builder. You are not the architect. You are not the designer. God is. And so being that living stone means that you don't have to hold everything together. You don't have to force outcomes and you don't have to carry it all.

[00:12:45] You get to be placed. Right? And so this is where that shift from self-reliance to surrender and from control to trust means that you are inviting the Lord into this. You know, if we go back to that thought of, yeah, maybe you have been burned in the past and people didn't get stuff, their stuff done. And so now you feel like everything depends on you. But when you show up that way, is there a lack of trust in your team or your organization?

[00:13:14] Because nobody feels like they can be a contributor to it. You know, when we talk about this and we're not operating from the strengths of our temperament, we have to look at, you know, what is kind of the bad fruit that's coming from this? And if we shift into this surrender, into this trust, what fruit will it bear?

[00:13:39] And so if you are a cleric temperament, but you're struggling and maybe you're in that shadow side, here's a few things I want you to try this week that lead to that greater surrender, that lead to that greater trust. The first one is practice asking for help, even in small ways. Number two, slow your decision making. Take some time. Think about something. Not everything needs an immediate solution. And then number three, notice your thoughts,

[00:14:08] especially the thoughts that creep up that this has to be done right now. I need to fix this and gently start to question them. Hold them up to God's truth. Spiritually, as a cleric, this temperament grows deeply through the virtues of humility, trust, and surrender. So the ways that you can start to practice these virtues, to grow in these virtues, is praying.

[00:14:38] Asking the Lord to infuse you with these virtues and saying, Lord, show me where I'm holding too tightly. Maybe it's letting someone else take the lead and then you get to be there to support. And it can also look like sitting in prayer without doing, which I know as a cleric would not be your favorite thing to do. And it's very, very challenging just to sit there. But at the end of the day, your strength is not a problem.

[00:15:06] It's just these strengths need to be ordered toward God. That is the true work of the living stone. To be that stone, to live in these strengths, to live in this temperament, but to allow God to order them. Because when a cleric woman is rooted in Christ, she becomes a very powerful leader, a grounded decision maker, and a woman who builds with God, not for herself.

[00:15:31] And our world needs these women to step up as these powerful leaders and these decision makers who are building with God. That is fighting back against these worldly and societal pressures and ideas. So I want to leave you with this today. Where might God be asking you to release control and trust him as the builder? If this episode resonated with you, I'd love to hear from you. You can always reach out. Send me an email.

[00:16:01] It's Kara at karatractor.com. And if you're realizing, yeah, I think this is me. I'm a cleric and I don't actually know how to live this out. I don't know how to be this living stone. This is exactly the work that we do in coaching. We take these patterns, these thoughts, these tendencies, and we walk through them together so that you can step into who God created you to be with clarity and peace. You can book a free session using the link that you can find in the show notes.

[00:16:29] Next week, we're diving into the sanguine temperament. And if you're the one who brings the fun, the energy, and the connection, you're going to love that episode. Until then, thank you so much for spending this time here with me this week. Remember, beauty held is a seed. Beauty shared is the flower. It is your time to bloom. God bless and take care. We'll talk soon. Bye. Bye.