The Enneagram is a tool to understanding your personality. It's kind of like Meyers-Brigs, but much more complex and sophisticated in my opinion. It not only gives you a framework for understanding who you are and how you have developed the personality you have, but ways to move forwards and grow from that once you better understand yourself. Below are some quotes from some of Riso and Hudson's books.
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“We develop one of the nine personality types because our consciousness has developed in certain ways as a result of our heredity and childhood experiences… The child then uses the strengths of his or her temperament as a primary way to cope with stresses in his or her environment. But in the process of adapting, a variety of unconscious mechanisms and structures come into play that help the child feel safe but that also limit his or her sense of identity. In a sense the development of the personality is as much a defense against our early environment as it is an adaptive reaction to it.”
“But it is all the more difficult to break out of our old patterns because we are almost totally unaware of them. The mechanisms of our personality are invisible to us.”
“Thus, the paradox of the Enneagram is this: we study the Enneagram because it is necessary to become conscious of how our personality operates so that we can become free of it.”
There are 9 types. I highly identify with Type One: in some books called The Reformer: http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"> name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"> name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11">
The Rational, Idealistic Type: Principled, Purposeful, Self-Controlled and Perfectionistic
http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"> name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"> name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11">"In brief Ones want to be right, to strive higher and improve everything, to be consistent with their ideals, to justify themselves, and to be beyond criticism so as not to be condemned by anyone. Ones do not want to be proven wrong, to make mistakes, to allow sloppiness, to be with people they perceive as lazy or not serious, to be in chaos or in situations that seem out of control, or to be embarrassed by emotional display."
http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"> name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"> name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11">“The one emotion they regularly allow themselves is anger in its many forms: impatience, irritation, resentment, and indignation. Strangely though, Ones are usually unaware of the degree of their anger or sometimes even that they are angry at all.” " http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"> name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"> name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11">Because such feelings conflict with their self-image of being rational and in control of themselves, they attempt to suppress their anger, unwittingly perpetuating it in the process. They become very inhibited, feeling that they must constantly hold their angry feelings and impulses in check."
http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"> name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"> name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11">“At the heart of the One’s dilemma is a fundamental contradiction. More than anything else, Ones want to have integrity congruency of thought, word and deed. But to have integrity is to be integrated, that is, whole. Integrity means oneness; however, as soon as Ones have judged some part of themselves unacceptable and repressed it, they have already lost their wholeness, their integrity. The way out is not by judging and evaluating themselves. This leads only to more and more internal conflict and division. To return to wholeness, Ones need acceptance of themselves – to see that here and now, who they are is good enough.”
http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"> name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"> name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11">“Light is always costly and comes at the expense of that which produces it. An unlit candle does not shine, for burning must come before the light. And we can be of little use to others without a cost to ourselves. Burning suggests suffering, and we try to avoid pain.
We tend to feel we are doing the greatest good in the world when we are strong and fit for active duty and when our hearts and hands are busy with kind acts of service. Therefore when we are set aside to suffer, when we are sick, when we are consumed with pain, and when all our activities have been stopped, we feel we are no longer of any use and are accomplishing nothing.
Yet if we will be patient and submissive, it is almost certain we will be a greater blessing to the world around us during our time of suffering and pain than we were when we thought we were doing our greatest work. Then we are burning, and shining brightly as a result of the fire…
Many people want the glory without the cross, and the shining light without the burning fire, but crucifixion comes before coronation.”
"I often speak of 'passion' for Jesus instead of love for Jesus because the word love has lost its biblical meaning in many religious circles today. As I said earlier, there has been a consistent attempt by theologians and popular preachers to define love primarily in terms of duty, without any reference to its emotional quality. A love for God that is devoid of emotion is a fictional product created by the minds of modern teachers. The Bible never defines love in that way.
I like the word passion because it stresses the emotional side of love. Passion can be defined as 'any kind of feeling by which the mind is powerfully effected or moved: a vehement, commanding, or overpowering emotion.' Passion is a feeling the moves the mind and the will to action. The term passion covers a whole range of feelings that are appropriate to loving God. I am referring to such things as desire, longing, zeal, affection, craving, hunger, and so on. These feelings are all characteristic of a person who is deeply in love.
I want these passionate feelings to characterize my relationship with the Lord Jesus. Of course, I want to be perfectly obedient to the Lord, but I want that obedience to spring out of a passionate love for him. I want to obey Jesus not simply out of discipline or duty, or because of some reward or fear of punishment. I want to serve him simply for the joy of being able to please the one I love so much. If discipline is what ultimately drives us in our pursuit of Jesus, eventually we will give up that pursuit. But a man in love or a woman in love will never quit. That is the nature of love (Song 8:6-7). I want my life to be characterized by an unrestrained affection for the Son of God."
- Surprised by the Power of the Spirit by Jack Deere
- Working is a complicated and confusing thing - How is it that I've finished a sum total of 22 years of school, have a diploma that says I'm a doctor and a license, and still feel like I don't know anything - I came home from my working interview with a whole stack of textbooks and a brain about to explode - Optometry + Optical + Fro Yo. Great concept. The owner happens to be the daughter-in-law of a family friend of Kenneth's who we were eating dinner with. Check it out. http://www.yelp.com/biz/clear-optometry-san-mateo - I miss working with low-income Spanish speaking patients who we were always trying to help save money and not spend it - I just got a 11 x 17 frame of my OD diploma. Weird size. I can't find my Stanford diploma - Dahn Tat (egg custard tarts) from Golden Gate Bakery in SF Chinatown. Worth waiting in line for over 30 minutes. - 7up + Peach sorbet + slush mug = yum!
- I always complained that it was too cold in the East Bay. Now we've moved back to the South Bay... it's HOT! - My favorite music artist right now is Marie Digby. Not sure where my brother heard of her, but I really like her album Unfold - I've always liked the beach but I'd much rather go to Half Moon Bay or Monterey than Santa Cruz. Much less traffic too. - The best clam chowder in my opinion is at Vivolo's Chowder House in Pacific Grove. My family used to go to Monterey every spring break and always have dinner there. I'd always get clam chowder in a bread bowl with a garlic lid. Now I take Kenneth there. We've discovered though that it seems more worth it to order two bowls of clam chowder and a whole order of garlic bread. Probably the only place I'd drive an hour and a half for food. - It always amazes me how my husband is so intrigued with little things... amazed and baffled. Yesterday we sat on the beach reading. I was reading a book... he was reading a camcorder user manual :OP - I miss school because I miss going through things together with my friends. Since my closest opto school friends are all doing residencies, I feel kind of like I've been left behind here. It's hard trying to figure this job search thing all on my own. Plus it can be a little awkward to discuss with former classmates I know around here, because they essentially are my competitors. - I generally like things straight forward and clear cut. My job situation(s) have been anything but that. I guess I just have to keep waiting and seeing what will happen. That also makes it hard to explain. So if I don't sound too enthusiastic when you ask me how my job search is going, or if I've started working, hopefully you'll understand why - I want to buy a house so that I can get a dog. Mostly the latter. Right now the best we can do is watch downloaded episodes of Cesar Milan's The Dog Whisperer and feed our stray cat, Blackie. - People ask me what I've been doing all summer. My answer: I have no idea.
