The Basic Proposition

You lost sight of the fundamental principle that everyone begins in innocence and without guilt, and that everyone can sense truth and came to perceive the world as hard and unjust, where the powerful take advantage of others. As a result, you learned to assure protection and to gain respect by becoming strong and powerful, and by hiding your vulnerability. At the same time, you developed a big lustful energy. Your attention naturally goes to injustices and to whatever demands action right now.

The central issue for healing

Since Protectors believe that they must be strong and powerful, and actively stand up for truth and justice, embracing innocence may seem implausible. This means that they should come to each situation freshly, without prejudice or power motives, ready to appreciate differences and realize that everyone has his or her truth.

To do this, you must learn to moderate your own overriding, boundless, instinctual energy, and notice how this energy defies boundaries, how it can be excessive, and how it impacts others. You need to learn exactly how much power is appropriate in any given situation and to delay the tendency to go from urge to action in an all-or-nothing fashion.

Six healing and growth commitments for Type Eights:

• Notice and moderate intensity, excess and impact
• Delay action and consider consequences
• Observe your all-or-nothing style
• Realize that true power comes from the appropriate or proportional application of force
• Reduce denial and allow for vulnerabilities
• Value the truth in opposites and differences

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Key themes of all types: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

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Read more about key themes of the types in The Essential Enneagram by David Daniels, M.D.

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