Wednesday, June 10, 2009

I'm A "Helper"

Last night a few friends of mine were telling me about the enneagram test, and I was curious what "number" I would be, so I ended up taking the test tonight. If ya'll are at all curious what you are, you can find it here. I ended up being a 2, like my other two friends are who told me about the test. It's funny how accurate this is about my personality though....


Type Two Overview
We have named personality type Two The Helper because people of this type are either the most genuinely helpful to other people or, when they are less healthy they are the most highly invested in seeing themselves as helpful. Being generous and going out of their way for others makes Twos feel that theirs is the richest, most meaningful way to live. The love and concern they feel—and the genuine good they do—warms their hearts and makes them feel worthwhile. Twos are most interested in what they feel to be the “really, really good” things in life—love, closeness, sharing, family, and friendship.

When Twos are healthy and in balance, they really are loving, helpful, generous, and considerate. People are drawn to them like bees to honey. Healthy Twos warm others in the glow of their hearts. They enliven others with their appreciation and attention, helping people to see positive qualities in themselves that they had not previously recognized. In short, healthy Twos are the embodiment of “the good parent” that everyone wishes they had: someone who sees them as they are, understands them with immense compassion, helps and encourages with infinite patience, and is always willing to lend a hand—while knowing precisely how and when to let go. Healthy Twos open our hearts because theirs are already so open and they show us the way to be more deeply and richly human.

However, Twos’ inner development may be limited by their “shadow side”—pride, self-deception, the tendency to become over-involved in the lives of others, and the tendency to manipulate others to get their own emotional needs met. Transformational work entails going into dark places in ourselves, and this very much goes against the grain of the Two’s personality structure, which prefers to see itself in only the most positive, glowing terms.
Perhaps the biggest obstacle facing Twos, Threes, and Fours in their inner work is having to face their underlying Center fear of worthlessness. Beneath the surface, all three types fear that they are without value in themselves, and so they must be or do something extraordinary in order to win love and acceptance from others. In the average to unhealthy Levels, Twos present a false image of being completely generous and unselfish and of not wanting any kind of pay-off for themselves, when in fact, they can have enormous expectations and unacknowledged emotional needs.
Average to unhealthy Twos seek validation of their worth by obeying their superego’s demands to sacrifice themselves for others. They believe they must always put others first and be loving and unselfish if they want to get love. The problem is that “putting others first” makes Twos secretly angry and resentful, feelings they work hard to repress or deny. Nevertheless, they eventually erupt in various ways, disrupting Twos’ relationships and revealing the inauthenticity of many of the average to unhealthy Two’s claims about themselves and the depth of their “love.”


5 comments:

Mike Keucher said...

Teresa, this sounds like you! I'd be happy to be in the same category as Mother Teresa!

I just took the test and I'm type 7--the Enthusiast. Which surprises me because I thought I might end up being a peacemaker, but I was furthest from that...

Suzanne said...

Guys..just to not break your bubble or anything too badly, it is really not a good choice to mess with the Enneagram. I have more in depth information for you if you are interested in finding out more..although I think you are both just having a bit of fun...just note that Father Mitch Pacwa warns,"Knowing these spiritistic and occultic involvements of the man who developed the Enneagram personility system should signal serious concern for Christians, since such involvements are gravely sinful." In his book, Catholics and the New Age, Father Pacwa writes,"...I believe Christians need to be awasre of the Enneagram's occult origins so they can prevent occult traces from infecting their faith in Christ Jesus."
Having written all that, Mike, I have a great little book that you might be interested in reading..the chapter on all this for your future references. It is called The New Age Counterfeit, by Johnette Benkovic who is with EWTN.
My kids already know I have this book, but they've laughed at me about "New Age" and what it can do to a person. Perhaps you can awaken them to the evils since I apparently have not done so well a job. :)
Anyway, like I said, I believe we all "play" around with these types of things and at first..its no big deal, but the creep, as we know him, makes it all look kinda fun..like so many other things he makes look "fun," with supposedly no consequences.

Teresa said...

Wow, I had no idea... Interesting. Thanks, Mom.

Mike Keucher said...

Suzanne, thanks so much for the info. I had no idea about that. I see what Father Pacwa is saying here.

As you say, I think Teresa and I were taking this with quite a grain of salt--as I do my horoscope--putting no actual faith in the results.

But still, I had no idea that the Enneagram personility system is something that ought to raise a serious red flag for us Christians. Thank you for sharing!

And that book sounds great! I'd love to read it over!!

Suzanne said...

Mike,
I will make sure you get to read this..I mean, I am sure there is tons more great information inside for future reference, etc.