Remember all the card games where the trickster says, “ Pick a number any number?” Or I guess they really said pick a card but this works better for my point, so play along. That is how I wanted to play the Enneagram personality quiz. I wanted to pick my number but it turns out my number picked me.
So if you have not read up on the Enneagram or have not listened to the last 1 trillion podcasts about said thing then you may be tilting your head sideways. Turns out this is a great method of finding out what makes you tick and what things motivate you and move you to be the you that you are confused to be!!! Or in my case perplexed to be until you just relax into it.
So let me start by saying, I did not want to be a three. I wanted to be a 2 because they are the helpers and they are loving and want to care for others almost above all things. Jody Morgan is a 2!!! Boy, do I know it. Or maybe a 7 who is like Bob Goff and adventurous and whimsical and full of bright ideas that they actually follow up on. They are creative and brilliant!!! My daughter Britt is a 7. Or perhaps a 9 that sounds noble: Nines are accepting, trusting, and stable. They are usually creative, optimistic, and supportive, but can also be too willing to go along with others to keep the peace. Lacey is one of the sweet ones too, I just don’t remember her number. Erica is a three and that did no surprise me because I was concentrating on the gifts of a 3 which she has in spades!!!
I wanted so badly to deny my threeness, so much so that I took the quiz in 3 different places and 3 different times and each time try as I may I am just as much a three as I am 4 foot 10. (Actually I am almost 4 foot 10) Let me tell you why I did not want to be a three but before I do let’s go down another trail.
So much of our lives are spent thinking, If I just had, Or if God would just do, or if I could develop this skill…. On and on and on. I have wanted to be more of a group person, more of a person who could go to a party and chat it up and feel comfortable with just idle leisure stuff. But lo and behold God did not make me that way because he has laid out a path for me that was my path. And going down someone else’s path because it looked brighter, sweeter or even more comfortable well that just does not work.
At age 62 I am finally, whew!!!! That took a long time!! I am finally more than okay to be the me God is designing me to be. Notice I said designing and not designed. I am constantly growing and learning and adapting to the world around me and becoming at peace with whatever is before me. The more I know, the more I know that I don’t know. The older I get I know that it is the whole deck of cards and all the numbers that create this life and all the puzzle pieces that make this world fit.
Every single thing and I mean every single thing without exception was put into my life to help me see more clearly and love more deeply no matter my enneagram number or my sleep number!!! WE will talk about sleep later. That is not my strong suit either. I am afraid I will miss something and there is so much to do!!! Yep I am a three.
So now the part where I tell you why I don’t want to be a three even though Oprah is a three so that is cool. So this is what they say about a three: Type threes in brief are self-assured, attractive, and charming. Ambitious, competent, and energetic, they can also be status-conscious and highly driven for advancement. They are diplomatic and poised, but can also be overly concerned with their image and what others think of them.
As you can see the first part I find kind of fascinating and I can get behind that put the part about being image conscious now that bothered me. Thankfully my friends pointed out on more than 10 occasions that I am most surely a 3!!! I don’t know how to take that. Oh and another thing Jen Hatmaker is a three so that excites me and if you don’t know who she is then why not???? Read up my friends and you can start with “For the Love.”
Okay back to some things I can admit, I love to dress cute, long throw back from my southern mama and Grandmama!! I do love to work hard and achieve but I don’t see me in the light that puts that above people. My daughter Britt pointed out that this is only a tool to discover ourselves and also discover others so that we can better see those in the light of their goodness!!! At my absolutely healthiest in mind, body and spirit I guess I can live with being the me that is a three!!!
As a walking on this earth fellow traveller I find it easier to love you for the good parts of your number but too judge me for my bad parts or unhealthy parts. I hope that if I keep on living and loving and growing I will finally get it that all the numbers are needed to make the formula fit. And so it is.