Please Curb Your...Temper?

The other day I was thinking about personalities. More specifically, I was contemplating that all-important aspect of the personality - the temper. Your temperament influences everything you do in some way or another. Perhaps because I have been teaching metaphors to my students, I likened temper to a family dog...

Everyone has a temper. What breed is yours?

1. Rex
Rex is the quintessential family dog. He is helpful and cooperative. He is friendly enough to make visitors feel welcome, while still maintaining an attentive eye on things. He is patient with the little ones who climb all over him and pull his ears, but if anyone makes a threatening move toward the baby, you can be sure that Rex will be there, teeth bared and hackles raised.

2. Chopper (bonus points to those who recognize the referance)
Chopper is an attack dog. He starts barking at the mailman while he is still several doors down and doesn't quit until he is out of site. While he manages to keep the baby safe from strangers, he also keeps all friends and neighbors away. They're never sure if they are going to do the wrong thing and end up with a set of fang-marks in their arms.

3. Fifi
Fifi makes a lot of noise, but rarely cares whether it changes anything. She is highstrung and prone to melodromatic displays of emotion. Although well loved by a faithful few, Fifi tends to drive others away with her constant complaints. She couldn't care less about the baby, even if she knew it existed.

4. Ol' Blue
Good Ol' Blue. He's been around for a very long time. He spends most of his time lying under the kitchen table, hoping for a tasty scrap to come his way. Although in his youth he was more like Rex, he is now too tired to care what happens to the baby. He figures that if the baby were so darned important, someone else would be protecting it so he could take a nap, reliving his glory days in his dreams.

5. Tigger
Tigger is a bouncy, happy-go-lucky dog who doesn't take anything too seriously. He is young, so the chances of him morphing into one of the other types of dog is very high, but at this moment in time nothing worries him too much. That stranger walking off with the baby? Must just be a friend I haven't met yet. Tigger makes friends with everyone (and quickly), but few of them would trust him with any big responsibility.

So.
I think this year is a pivotal one, one where I will learn if I am a Rex...or a Chopper. :) I strive to maintain a balance between caring and relaxing, but it is so difficult. And way too often I find myself barking my fool head off over some unimportant issue. This morning it was the running on the blacktop. It's a mild safety issue, but is it worth giving myself a brain aneurism over? I doubt it. How about you? What kind of dog is protecting YOUR brain?