Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy
Welcome to Day 943 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom
The Enneagram System – Directions of Integration (Growth) and Disintegration (Stress) – Ask Gramps
Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 943 of our trek, and it is time for our Philosophy Friday series. Each Friday we will ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life and how they can impact us in creating our living legacy.
As we continue on this trek called life, sometimes we have questions about life. So our Friday trek is a time when we can “Ask Gramps.” Gramps will answer questions that you would like to ask your dad or granddad, but for whatever reason are unable to. No matter how old we are, I know that all of us would like the opportunity to ask dad or gramps questions about life in many areas.
Today is the sixth episode in a new series delving into what makes each of us respond as we do to life situations. Understanding ourselves and how others may interpret life through their paradigm will allow us to interact with each other with more love and compassion. This is utilizing a profound tool called “The Enneagram.”
If you have missed any of our past four Friday series, I would recommend going back and listening to them or read the Wisdom Journals. As a review, the tool that we refer to as the Enneagram (Any-a-Gram) is a circle with 9 interconnected points (Ennea refers to 9 and Gram refers to a drawing). Look below for a representation of it.
I have also included Wisdom Journal a copy of “The Enneagram At-A-Glance” that was compiled by Suzanne H Eller in today’s. If you would like a PDF copy of it, click on the link in today’s Wisdom Journal on our website Wisdom-Trek.com.
I would also recommend a recently released book The Road Back to You written by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile. It is an excellent book about an enneagram journey to self-discovery.
When I discovered the depth of the Enneagram, it opened up a new horizon of understanding of myself and also helped me to understand others better. The Enneagram is the most useful tool of this type I’ve encountered for personal growth. We are exploring this tool in detail, and I would recommend also reading the Wisdom Journal for each Friday to see the diagrams presented each week.
If you have any questions or would like additional resources, please send me a message from the Wisdom Journal page, and I will reply. As helpful as the Enneagram is, keep in mind it is still only a tool and cannot replace or usurp the precepts that are found in God’s Word. All decisions and actions that we make in life must be in harmony with God’s precepts.
So the questions for the next several week or months will be…
“Hey, Gramps, why do people act and react to situations and circumstances in life differently? How can I gain wisdom to better understand myself and others so that I can love, serve, and minister to them on a deeper level?”
The Enneagram System – Directions of Integration (Growth) and Disintegration (Stress)
As we discussed in last Friday’s podcast and journal the Levels of Development, the nine personality types of the Enneagram are not static categories: they reflect our change over time. Further, the sequence of the types and the arrangement of the inner lines of the symbol are not arbitrary. The inner lines of the Enneagram connect the types in a sequence that denotes what each type will do under different conditions.
There are two lines connected to each type, and they connect with two other types. One line connects with a type that represents how a person of the first type behaves when they are moving toward health and growth. This is called the Direction of Integration or Growth.
The other line goes to another type that represents how the person is likely to act out if they are under increased stress and pressure—when they feel they are not in control of the situation. This second line is called the Direction of Stress or Disintegration. In other words, different situations will evoke different kinds of responses from your personality. You will respond or adapt in different directions, as indicated by the lines of the Enneagram from your basic type. Again, we see the flexibility and dynamism of the Enneagram.
The Direction of Disintegration or Stress for each type is indicated by the sequence of numbers 1-4-2-8-5-7-1. This means that an average to unhealthy One under stress will eventually behave like an average to unhealthy Four, an average to unhealthy Four will act out their stress like an average to unhealthy Two, an average to unhealthy Two will act out under stress like an Eight, an Eight will act out under stress like a Five, a Five will act out like a Seven, and a Seven will act out like a One.
Likewise, on the equilateral triangle, the sequence is 9-6-3-9, a stressed out Nine will act out like a Six, a stressed out Six will act out like a Three, and a stressed-out Three will act out like a Nine. You can see how this works by following the direction of the arrows on the Enneagram found in today’s Wisdom Journal located at Wisdom-Trek.com/day-943.
The Direction of Disintegration (Stress)
1->4->2->8->5->7->1
9->6->3->9
The Direction of Integration or Growth is indicated for each type by the reverse of the sequences for disintegration. Each type moves toward integration in a direction that is the opposite of its unhealthy direction. Thus, the sequence for the Direction of Integration is 1-7-5-8-2-4-1: an integrating One goes to Seven, an integrating Seven goes to Five, an integrating Five goes to Eight, an integrating Eight goes to Two, an integrating Two goes to Four, and an integrating Four goes to One.
On the equilateral triangle, the sequence is 9-3-6-9: an integrating Nine will go to Three, an integrating Three will go to Six, and an integrating Six will go to Nine. You can see how this works by following the direction of the arrows on the Enneagram found in today’s Wisdom Journal located at Wisdom-Trek.com/day-943.
The Direction of Integration (Growth)
1->7->5->8->2->4->1
9->3->6->9
No matter which personality type you are, the types in both your Direction of Integration or Growth and your Direction of Disintegration or Stress are important influences. To obtain a complete picture of yourself (or of someone else), you must take into consideration the basic type and wing as well as the two types in the Directions of Integration and Disintegration.
The factors represented by those four types blend into your total personality and provide the framework for understanding the influences operating in you. For example, no one is simply a personality type Two. A Two has either a One-wing or a Three-wing, and the Two’s Direction of Disintegration (Eight) and its Direction of Integration (Four) also play important parts in his or her overall personality.
Ultimately, the goal is for each of us to “move around” the Enneagram, integrating what each type symbolizes and acquiring the healthy potentials of all the types. The ideal is to become a balanced, fully functioning godly person who can draw on the power (or from the Latin, “virtue”) of each other type as needed.
Each of the types of the Enneagram symbolizes different important aspects of what we need to achieve this end. The personality type we begin life with is, therefore, less important ultimately than how well (or badly) we use our type as the beginning point for our self-development and self-realization. This will allow us to become more compassionate, kind, and loving to others and to ourselves. This is how we become bearers of God’s image.
Luke 6:36 – You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.
Join us again next Friday as we further explore the Enneagram on our Ask Gramps episode. We will specifically explore The Three Instincts of our core personality. The information that we explore will allow you to unlock who you are as we travel on our trek of life and discover more about yourself and others as you impact God’s kingdom. I know you will find these insights interesting, practical, and profitable in living a rich and satisfying life.
Our next trek is Mediation Monday when we will help you reflect on what is most important in life. So encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along on Monday for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.
If you would like to listen to any of the past 942 daily treks or read the associated journals, they are all available at Wisdom-Trek.com. I encourage you to subscribe to Apple Podcast or Google Play so that each day’s trek will be downloaded automatically.
Download the Enneagram-At-A-Glance in PDF Format
Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.
As we take this trek together, let us always:
- Live Abundantly (Fully)
- Love Unconditionally
- Listen Intentionally
- Learn Continuously
- Lend to others Generously
- Lead with Integrity
- Leave a Living Legacy Each Day
I am Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Everyday! See you on Monday!
Thank you for these delightful resources.