Category Archives: Humor

Giving to Get (Type 2)

2Here are a couple of video clips on 2s. The first one is from understandingpersonality.com. The second is an excerpt from the Type 2 panel at the first International Enneagram Conference held in Palo Alto, California nearly 20 years ago.

I could see that people were needy people. Everywhere. All the time. So it gave me an excuse to do something for them all the time. If someone is not well, I’ll say, “Oh, did you try that? Because maybe it’s good for you.” Really what’s important is to fix.

When I first read the chapter on 2s in the Enneagram, I was relating to a lot of it until it got to this part about giving to get. And I said, “Oh, that’s ridiculous. I never give to get. I’m just the most helpful, giving, nurturing person in the world. I know dozens of people who couldn’t survive without me.”

Performance Anxiety (Type 1)

one

This is a clip from the video on 1s, part of a lively, informative, and fun series from understandingpersonality.com.

I love this quote from Nona’s husband after she claims she doesn’t judge others. (I also love her honest reaction/recognition.)

If you do something only 90% correct, then you needn’t have bothered performing the action in the first place because the 10% you haven’t performed far outweighs the 90% that you have performed.

New Year’s Counter-Resolutions

Illustration Friday - Resolution

Resolution (Photo credit: The hills are alive)

Sometimes it’s best to be LESS than we can be, especially when it comes to the all-too-entrenched compulsions of our personality.

So here are some resolutions for the new year that run counter to our natural inclinations. If your past resolutions have worked as well as mine, you might be up for giving one or two of these a try.

Type 1:

  • Create a schedule for goofing off.
  • Make at least one mistake per day.
  • Let sleeping dogs lie.

Type 2:

  • Pamper myself, whether I feel like it or not.
  • Let them figure it out by themselves once in a while.
  • Start an argument just for the heck of it.

Type 3:

  • Make an anonymous charitable donation (and don’t tell anyone about it).
  • Leave the house without combing my hair.
  • Start having goal-less Wednesdays.

Type 4:

  • Lighten up!
  • Try doing one thing a week the way everyone else does it.
  • Take something at face value instead of searching for its deeper meaning.

Type 5:

  • Set up a meet and greet with the neighbors.
  • Next time, don’t read the instructions first.
  • At least once a month, throw something out.

Type 6:

  • Do whatever they least expect me to do.
  • Take a day off in the middle of the week for no reason.
  • Lower shields.

Type 7:

  • Just say “no.”
  • Finish one thing before starting something else.
  • Spend some quiet time alone without distractions.

Type 8:

  • Leave the office at quitting time—or before.
  • Find lower gear and occasionally shift into it.
  • Let the right one in.

Type 9:

  • Do whatever I feel like doing no matter how much chaos ensues as a result.
  • Give up being passive-aggressive for being outright aggressive.
  • Create a longer to-do list.

Happy New Year!

~ ~ ~

NOTE: As of January 2013, new Nine Paths posts will be published every Monday and Friday instead of every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Make It So!

A derivative collage from two other files - ca...

Captain Jean Luc Picard on board the Enterprise (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Jean Luc Picard was the captain of the Enterprise. So his directive to “make it so” was aimed at the people under his command in order to further some aspect of the starship’s current mission.

Each of us is on a mission, too, though probably not an interstellar one. And we give ourselves directives to keep focused on our particular mission.

Self Directives by Type

Type 1: Watch Yourself!

Type 2: Ignore Yourself!

Type 3: Distinguish Yourself!

Type 4: Be Yourself!

Type 5: Prepare Yourself!

Type 6: Brace Yourself!

Type 7: Enjoy Yourself!

Type 8: Push Yourself!

Type 9: Hide Yourself!

Type 6 Friend

Last in the series of type comics. The rest can be found here: Type 1, Type 2, Type 3, Type 4, Type 5, Type 7, Type 8, Type 9.

Type 6 Friend

Type 3 Frog

Eighth in the series of type comics. The others can be found here: Type 1, Type 2, Type 4, Type 5, Type 7, Type 8, and Type 9.

Type 8 Child

Most recent in the type comic series. See also: Type 1, Type 2, Type 4, Type 5, Type 7, and Type 9. (Types 3 and 6 coming soon .)

Twisted Affirmations (Enneagram Humor)

English: Halloween in Bonaire.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

A student in a group I facilitated years ago (not the group pictured above) brought in a list of “twisted affirmations” she’d come across. As she read them aloud, we realized how easily they could be categorized by Enneagram type. So that’s what we did. There were many more affirmations than the nine below, but some types got off pretty easy while others seemed to come out far more “twisted.” So to keep it fair (I’m an 8, after all), I’ve chosen what seems to be the most representative twist for each type. I would love to credit the author, but I have no idea who he/she is.

Type 1
I am grateful that I am not as judgmental as all those censorious, self-righteous people around me.

Type 2
As I learn the innermost secrets of the people around me, they reward me in many ways to keep quiet.

Type 3
To have a successful relationship, I must learn to make it look like I’m giving as much as I’m getting.

Type 4
I can change any thought that hurts into a reality that hurts even more.

Type 5
I have the power to channel my imagination into ever-soaring levels of suspicion and paranoia.

Type 6
Only a lack of imagination saves me from immobilizing myself with imaginary fears.

Type 7
I am willing to make the mistakes if someone else is willing to learn from them.

Type 8
When someone hurts me, forgiveness is cheaper than a lawsuit, but not nearly as gratifying.

Type 9
False hope is nicer than no hope at all.

~ ~ ~

Sometimes you just need to be able to laugh at yourself.

Type 5 Wife & Mother

This is the sixth in the series of Type Comics. See also Type 1, Type 2, Type 4, Type 7, and Type 9.

What do you think, maybe not so much organized as compartmentalized?

Type 1 Shopper

The latest in a series of Type comics. Also see Type 7, Type 4, Type 9, and Type 2.