There's many ways the enneagram tradition can help us in learning how we see and act in the world around us. However, let us not remain there, the rut of sticking to what we've always done can keep us from growth and wholeness. God may be heard within us in a familiar way that we're so accustomed to we forget to listen. By engaging all of the intelligent centers, especially practicing the ones other than our default, we can hear God within us in new ways and bring new life to both the drudgery and the joy of our present moment.
Postures and pastry cases mean different things to different people.
A short story by a woman seeking wholeness in every moment
"We hadn't had a proper date in almost four months, and it was beginning to show. The kids had been rotating winter sicknesses and the trials of our last year had left us more worn than we even thought possible. Yet, with the generosity of some dear friends, here we were with no responsibilities for at least the next three hours. "Hi, welcome to Starbucks." I heard the barista behind the counter announce our arrival as I tried to relax and enjoy this time away with my husband instead of dwelling on the thousands of thoughts in my head and ten billion feelings in my heart. "Just be present." I tried to self talk my way into making this worthwhile but I knew, the best solution was to let a simple prayer of "help me" float up to the attentive ears of heaven.
My husband ordered our drinks and sat down in a chair closest to the wall at a four top table.
As for me, well I took five minutes to figure out where to sit and literally tried each of the three remaining chair at the table to see which one felt the best.
You see as a four on the enneagram, my main way of dealing with the world is through my emotions. My husband, however, sees the world with his head mostly and uses rationality and logic based on history and context to make decisions.
This scene was humorous to me as I stumbled through which seat to choose . It ended up being the one opposite my husband, facing the exit, in view of both the large window and the pastry case, with my back against the yellow creamy painted wall and my posture straighter than I would usually maintain while reading at a coffee shop.
I became aware that day that I have a choice to operate in my default way of seeing and being in the world or to become more whole and use all my centers of intelligence (mind, body, heart) to find not just happiness and good feelings but growth in encountering my present moment with my whole self."
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“Many of us don’t know how to hear from God in the present [moment]. . . . But God is here now, closer than our very breath.”
From the Center for Action and Contemplation - Week eight
Your Enneagram Isn't an Excuse
It can be easy to not work for growth or put in the effort to change, but these are the kinds of things that can bring us into new neural pathways and healing as we struck out to overcome our nagging ego voice and go beyond what prison the pain built to protect us. "Bringing our centers together through the inner work of integration helps us wake up and come home to our True Self. It’s a challenging journey but a worthy one." From the Center for Action and Contemplation
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