The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery

TYPE NINE: The Peacemaker.

Try not to take it personally. As strange as it sounds, what feels like intimidation to you feels like intimacy to an Eight. For them, conflict is connection. In my experience Eights don’t see themselves as angry people. In fact, they’re genuinely surprised when they learn other people experience them as intimidating, insensitive and domineering.

Spiritually healthy, self-aware Eights love to do what others say can’t be done. When their energy is harnessed and channeled they can change the course of history. Think Martin Luther King Jr.

In their developmental years, Sevens heard the wounding message, “You’re on your own. No one’s here to support or take care of you.” In response Sevens said, “I’ll do it if no one else will.”

Security. When Sevens feel secure they can start to behave like healthy Fives. Here they stop consuming and start contributing, are more comfortable with silence and solitude, become more serious, and begin to think about the meaning and purpose of their lives.

Like “hungry ghosts,” Sevens cope with their inner tumult by gorging themselves on interesting ideas, acquiring choice material possessions, jamming their calendars with activities and adventures, fantasizing about a future filled with exciting possibilities, and planning their next great escapade.

Apart from the practical advice, the most invaluable part of the workshops comes when Rebecca hands the parents eyeglasses that correlate to each child’s specific disability. Almost always, the parents burst into tears. “I had no idea that this is the way my child sees the world,” they tell her. Once they have the experience of observing through th

“What we don’t know about ourselves can and will hurt us, not to mention others,”

From personal experience, I can tell you not wanting to stick to playing what’s on the page is a pattern with many Sevens. Helen Palmer calls them the Epicures because of the way they delight in all the best possibilities in life. If you don’t believe me, take a Seven to dinner. They’re usually the first person to smell what the menu special is. “H