We live in a “crunchy” world right now, and it is easy to be swept up in disagreement and discourse with colleagues, friends and family.

Crunchy are those moments of disconnect that normally leave us grumpy, uncomfortable, annoyed and impatient.

As a seven (7) on the Enneagram® (Enneagram is a system of personality typing that describes patterns in how people interpret the world and manage their emotions), most folks would see me as a pretty positive guy, glass half full, always looking for the light in the darkness.

When I am healthy, well-rested and investing in myself, I can remain curious, open, and fluid in almost any situation. In most circumstances, this can be a beautiful approach to life, soaked in optimism and possibilities.

On occasion, when not balanced with accepting challenges and reality, when not being open to the support of others, I have found myself frantically trying to keep too many plates spinning at one time. Sooner or later, I become tired, anxious, and stressed, and the plates begin to fall. In these moments, I slide towards an unhealthy one (1) on the enneagram, becoming impatient, grumpy and judgemental.

In the first half of my life, I believed that my positive impact, enthusiasm, and optimism far outweighed any negative impact of the occasional plate dropping. I was moving so fast onto the next most exciting thing I rarely saw any impact of these crashes; most that were started with good intentions.

My journey, especially over the past five years, has been to strengthen awareness in the moment to create that much-needed pause and reflection, especially when things are most crunchy.

Tips and Tools

Three quick steps that really help me:

  1. Strengthening my awareness of inner energy shifts – meditation and enhancing my internal doppler (Click here to download my Energy Tracker and Assessment Tool).
  2. Choosing to pause when I sense the shift – taking three deep breaths, moving, or tensing and releasing my stress points three times.
  3. Widening my lens – my new favourite is saying ‘just like me’ when someone does something that really annoys me. This simple verbal cue activates my brain to find similar situations when I have done the same thing. It can’t help but make you smile and take another, broader look at the situation.

Reducing the unhealthy crunchiness starts within me. I am choosing to create what I call safe brave spaces within myself and in my relationships. Imagine the possibilities and the wonderful ripple effect we can collectively make through greater awareness and activation of our love lens
within the communities with whom we connect.

If you would like to enhance your ability to remain curious in the crunchy, you might want to consider one of our individual coaching programs. For more details, feel free to reach out to me at Greg@lighthouse9.ca.

Greg Smith
Partner
Lighthouse NINE Group
greg@lighthouse9.ca
www.lighthouse9.ca

One Comment

  1. January 10, 2023 at 3:37 pm

    Love it Greg. I found that more and more folks are crunchy.

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