Today’s blog provides a question rather than answers.
In his book, The Sacred Enneagram, author Christopher L. Heuertz writes that our limitations, destructive patterns, addictions, or other seemingly unpresentable parts are invitations “to return to what wounded us as children so that our eyes may be opened to the gift of who we are and who we can become.” Mr. Heuertz has spent his career understanding the Enneagram of Personality. If you have not heard of the Enneagram, it is a tool that has been around for thousands of years. As Mr. Heuertz explains, the Enneagram offers nine personality types that “explain the ‘why’ of how we think, act, and feel.” He further writes “the Enneagram is a blueprint for developing character that each of us carries throughout our life, but one that we don’t open until we discover our type.” The Enneagram types explain the strengths common in each type and also the “shadow” side of each type caused by childhood wounds. For instance, my dominant type is Type Six, the Loyalist. It is the type that needs to be sure and certain. At their best Sixes are a source of determination and strength. But often Sixes doubt themselves. Type Sixes include individuals who were often raised in unpredictable situations that left them doubting and disbelieving. The Enneagram is a complex tool that not only can help us understand who we are, the good and the bad, but also our incredible potential that is there to be uncovered. Mr. Heuertz asks “are we suffering the pathology of how we were hurt or neglected in our childhood? Is it because someone harmed us or is it because we actually need an obvious limitation as an invitation to give ourselves to our inner work?”
Here’s my question for you to ponder: What would happen if you perceived your destructive tendencies as needed gifts rather than limitations and invitations to discover who we are and who we can become?