Have you noticed that you find yourself attracted to people similar to you? There is something subtle about them that magnetically attracts you to them. You feel comfortable with them, and you can relate to their thinking. They treat others in the same way you treat others, and you tend to make them part of your social network and support system. These people are easy for you to communicate with, and they energize you when you are in their presence.

What about the people you meet or have to deal with who are opposite from you? You get messages that confirm the chemistry is not good between you; that there is something about them that makes you want to pull back and protect yourself. They drain your energy. The more time you spend with them, the greater your awareness becomes of the magnitude of those differences. You struggle to find a common ground on which you can communicate. These people see the world through different eyes, and you realize they even approach life from another perspective altogether. While it is true that opposites do attract, when it comes to building relationships with people who are opposite, the potential for conflict and misunderstanding is high. There will be difficulty finding a common understanding where one or the other does not feel compromised. In order to make these relationships work, each person must be willing to acknowledge and deal with their differences. Each must be willing to commit both time and energy to the relationship — not an easy task unless each becomes aware of why they act the way they do and why they differ.

What is it about people that makes one different from another? What gives each person their own unique individual behavioral characteristics? Why is it that we want to be around people who are like us and have difficulty dealing with people who are opposites? The answer to these questions is two-fold. The first has to do with how we energetically disclose ourselves to others. The second has to do with personality.

Each of us externally transmits our own "fingerprint" pattern of energy that communicates to others who we are. That pattern of energy is our personality. When we meet people who are similar in energy pattern and personality, we are attracted to them. When people who are not similar in energy or personality come into our lives, we may at first be attracted to them, yet we soon recognize their differences. If we can cope with or live with the differences, then we will work at building a relationship. However, if we cannot or choose not to deal with the differences, we will move on and seek others who are like ourselves. So, while opposites do attract, they do not necessarily stay together. Sometimes the differences are too great to overcome or do not justify the energy needed to deal with them.

It is within the mental layer of energy that our personality first reveals itself. That is because the core part of our personality determines our mental functioning. Every aspect of who we are physically and energetically is governed in some way by our personality. Personality has two aspects: inherited and learned. Inherited we cannot change. Learned we can change.

Personality Traits and Characteristics

Each one of us is born with inherent personality traits, meaning our biological genetic coding, that determine the way our brain develops and how our personality expresses itself. That is our core part. Our personality traits reveal themselves at a very early age and remain constant throughout our entire lives. They direct the way we act, how we think, and they establish our learned personality characteristics. Traits create our involuntary habits that determine the course our lives will take. They decide our preferred way of gathering information and how we draw conclusions from the information we take in.

Personality traits influence the choice of words we use to communicate with others, as well as how we learn. Our personality traits are responsible for our brain functioning and its normal neuro-biological and biochemical reactions. They establish electrochemical dialogue that takes place between the brain, the endocrine system, and the physical body. Personality traits reveal themselves through a predominant color found in the human energy system.

The learned parts of personality are called characteristics. Characteristics are the behavioral patterns we develop as a result of what we have learned. They reflect our biographical history, and are what makes us unique. They are the distinguishing qualities that differentiate us from others, and they establish our identity and how we express that identity to the outside world. Characteristics are responsible for the formation of habits, comfort zones, quirks, and idiosyncratic behavioral patterns. In the human energy system, our personality characteristics are reflected within the emotional layer of energy. They provide the biographical information that reveals itself through our emotional reactions.

When you combine personality traits and characteristics, you define personality type, meaning the consistent predictable patterns that drive the way we live and why we act the way we do. Personality type represents the orderly arrangement through which we form our perceptions, attitudes, beliefs, and values. Using the premise of personality type as a categorical formula makes it easier to understand and identify why people are different.

Think of your personality type as your automatic pilot. It creates the involuntary behavioral patterns necessary for you to function and survive. Its inherent traits create your own personal road map, which guides the outward direction you take in life. Its characteristics influence what you become. It affects your self-image, self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-worth. It motivates you, creates your irritations, and controls stress and how stress affects you. Personality impacts the way you face life’s challenges and the coping mechanisms you develop. It is the organizing principle that affects your sense of reality and spirituality. It greatly impacts your health and overall sense of well-being.

I believe that through learning more about personality type, you can develop your own framework to better understand yourself. You will be able to recognize, comprehend, and utilize your personality strengths in such a way that you can maximize your innate capabilities and talents. You will have a deeper under standing of how your mind and body communicate, and you will become aware of where your weak site is. You will begin to recognize which thoughts and patterns of behavior are self-destructive and create chemical imbalances that increase your potential for illness.

At a deeper, more spiritual level, the understanding of your personality type positions you to give power to your individuality as expressed through the personality of your soul. You experience a sense of wholeness — the feeling of wholeness that only comes through the unconditional integration of body, mind, and spirit. Your true essence and authenticity will reveal itself through the lights of your aura for all to see and enjoy. You will experience the greatest, purest joy there is in life — the joy that comes from accepting and loving yourself. ¤