For Anyone Seeking A Way Forward In Life
Here’s something I have learned over the years: counseling and coaching people. Everyone seems to think they are the only ones who don’t know what they’re doing. Seriously, a young husband confides in me that he’s not ready to be a father. An older woman shares that she doesn’t know how to navigate divorce. A middle-aged man tells me his father never taught him how to move into the second half of life as a King (listen to my last podcast).
But here’s the truth – NO ONE KNOWS WHAT THEY’RE DOING!
We were dropped off on a rock in the middle of outer space, spinning around a hot ball of fire and waiting to die. Anyone who says they have it all figured out – they’re lying. That’s why religion evolved and nearly every religion calls its roadmap the same thing.
In Buddhism, it is called Dharma.
In Taoism, it is termed Tao.
In Confucianism, it is known as Dao.
In Judaism, it is known as Halacha.
In Islam, it is referred to as Shari’ah.
And in Christianity, it is called “Via.”
What is the literal translation for each of these?
The Way.
They all are responses to feeling lost.
They all convey direction in life.
They all, in their way, are roadmaps for finding our way forward.
They are all valuable ways to figure out how to live meaningfully on this rock during our short stay.
However, the challenge for so many is that these traditional pathways just don’t speak to us. If they do, great, and the Enneagram is not in competition. In fact, it has probably evolved out of Kabbalah, Sufism, and Catholic mysticism. I’m an ordained rabbi and see nothing which would contradict my, or anyone’s, religion. I have only seen it strengthen people’s relationship with their religion.
But the facts are that religion is on the decline. Most people I know and guide don’t have a religion they call home. Or, if they do, it is in name only, but hardly a roadmap for navigating their way forward.
And yet, returning to that man getting married, that woman getting a divorce, or that guy trying to figure out what it means to live the second half of his life – we still need direction. We all need a roadmap, and in my 30 years of studying and practicing all kinds of roadmaps, none is more insightful and impactful than the Enneagram.
It speaks to the religious.
It connects with those who are secular.
It offers spiritual insight.
It makes intellectual sense.
It unites. It does not divide.
And above all else, it is a roadmap that works.
It provides us a WAY forward, and if you haven’t yet explored this way, jump over to my new, complimentary offering: Discover Your Number and check it out.
Blessings on your Way, whatever way that may be.
Dr. Baruch “B” HaLevi
