Getting caught up

When we first learn about the Enneagram there is a tendency to get caught up in what Type we are and use it as a way of explaining everything about us or as an excuse for the way we behave. For example 'I'm a Six so I'm just really anxious' or 'I'm a Four so I always feel different'. The problem with doing this is that we allow our personality Type to define us yet further which does not allow us to move beyond it. In fact our personality (ego) Type is where we are off balance, where we are fixated. Put another way, it shows us where we over suffer. Discovering our Type can, therefore, sometimes make us feel uncomfortable as we can understand the particular suffering of it. The challenge is to use that understanding as a tool for growth, to realise that at any moment we have a choice as to how to react. We can all suffer from anxiety, for example, but for a Six it is habitual and when they understand that they, in a sense, over suffer from anxiety, they can use this knowledge to re-evaluate where it is coming from, how it determines their actions or influences their decision-making and so learn from it. Likewise, we can all feel different sometimes but for a Four it is a habitual state so when a Four understands that they over suffer from feeling different they can look into where that comes from, what it represents for them or how much it may define how they view themselves and others.

Each of the personality Types is a particular pattern of attitudes and habitual behaviours that get in our own way. Once we understand this we automatically start to move beyond those behaviours and towards liberation from them.