What we want and what we settle for in life

by | Sep 29, 2011 | Uncategorized

Out of our deepest desires
What we want and what we settle for . . . 
These notes are shared from an afternoon with Richard Rohr with the Arizona Enneagram Association Professional Members in February, 2011.  

Out of our deepest desires our life energy seeks what we want in life.   The energy of our vices never get us to our deepest desires; it fact they will make it impossible.  When we discover how to let go of our vice, that sticking point that we habitually insist on using, then we begin traveling the road to freedom.
What we want at our deepest core through our Virtue
What we settle for through our Vice
Type One desires SERENITY, a peacefulness and calmness through the midst of life – Serenity.
They often settle for ORDER, a pseudo-peace.  One’s get in trouble when they try to enforce order according to their own set of laws.  They allow inner irritations to take focus about picky things.
Type Two desires TO BE LOVED FOR THEIR TRUE INNER SELF.  They look you eye to eye for the I-Thou present moment – Humility.
They often settle for IDLE PRAISE AND AFFECTION FROM OTHERS, reveling in the pride they receive from providing for others.
Type Three desires TO BE LOVED FOR WHO THEY ARE and not what they do or bring – Honesty.  
They often settle for the IMAGE that is driven by the future desire.  It energizes them to settle for what they don’t want, like a carrot on the stick – the reality of the images just always out of reach.  They twist reality to fit the image they have.
Type Four desires a PERFECT RELATIONSHIP with all things  – Equanimity/Balance
They often TRY TO DESERVE SOMETHING ELSE.  They want the perfect relationship, living in perpetual longing for what they can’t achieve.  They love the metaphor/symbol more that the object itself.
Type Five desires a TRUE ABUNDANCE in all of life – Non-attachment.
They often settle for the IDEAS AND INFO IN THEIR HEAD.  The past feels safer and so they substitute attachment to ideas for God, intellectual riches; the more info they have the more secure they feel.
Type Six desires FAITH, a knowing  everything is all right, effective, practical – Courage.
They often settle for SECURITY that gives a superficial approach to faith.  They search for a way to live without fear to get things done with no whining.  They can rise above bad feelings by mental activities.
Type Seven desires SATISFACTION.  Only when they rest in the now can the find that they have enough.  They learn to enjoy their own satisfaction – Sobriety.
They often settle for MORE.  The desire for more never allows “enough”.  Planning is more fun than the actual event. 
Type Eight desires JUSTICE.  They are acutely aware of injustice and protecting the small – Innocence.
They often settle for REVENGE on reality.  The lust for life is an over identification with masculine energy.  They have to find the softness in themselves and value it.
Type Nine desires HARMONY/UNITY that refuses to let problems dominate – Right Action.
They often settle for SLEEP.  Let the issue resolve itself.  So they sleep through the conflict; self-forget with no opinion about the events of the day.