Thursday, August 3, 2017

Ruled by Emotions

That's how I feel sometimes. And it drives me crazy!

I'm pretty sure I've talked about the enneagram before, but I love it! It is a personality assessment of sorts and I pretty much love all things that allow me to explore myself more deeply and try to understand why I am wired the way I am. I read somewhere that the Meyers-Briggs in based on your behavior and the enneagram is the "why" behind your behavior and I think that is so accurate.


There are 9 basic types on the enneagram which can seem simple enough, but then it gets much more complex. In addition to your basic type, there are wings (on either side of your type) that you may gravitate towards. For example, I am a 5 with a 4 wing. I share traits with other 5s, but am also different from 5s with a 6 wing or 5s with no wing at all.

Another characteristic of the enneagram, that is different from other assessments I have seen, is that the enneagram takes into account how one reacts to different situations.  For each type, there are both positive and negative traits.  But the enneagram also shows that when a person is stressed, they disintegrate to the negative traits of another type and when they are healthy, they integrate to the positive traits of a different type. I, for example, as a 5, integrate to an 8 and disintegrate to a 7. It helps me to understand myself better and how I react to stress- for better or worse.

I just ordered a book off Amazon called The Road Back to You about better understanding the enneagram.  I'm still waiting wanted to come in, and pretty excited to get started. I totally think everyone should do some enneagram reading to learn more about yourself and why you react to certain situations. And if you want to read through The Road Back to You with me, let me know and we can nerd out together!

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