Creating Emotional Balance as an Enneagram Type 9

As an INFJ, I've heard many times how essential balance is to my happiness, but I've been unsure what that meant. Now that I'm also studying the Enneagram Type 9, I better understand how to achieve this balance in my life.

Suppressing my Feelings and Needs As a Type 9, I can be very receptive to others' emotions. This can give me great empathy, and it allows me to understand many points of view. It can also enable me to be very supportive of other people and bring unity to groups. It can become a serious problem if I rely on this ability too heavily. By inappropriately suppressing my feelings and needs, so that I can be more receptive to others, I can end up losing my own sense of identity. 

Losing my Identity This is one of my major challenges in life. When I lose my identity, I have to spend weeks alone, thinking, to  rediscover who I really am. If I regularly take the time to notice what I am feeling, it helps to keep me connected with myself. Writing poems, journal keeping, and sharing my feelings with close friends, such as my husband, all assist me to remember who I am.  I also need time before I make decisions. It helps me connect to my introverted functions of intuition and thinking when I write out and discuss the pros and cons, and consider my own goals and needs, then I'm able to evaluate how best to support others. This regular reflective time where I engage my strongest ability, introverted intuition, supported by my introverted thinking, and with my extroverted feeling values and information and sensing input, is essential to maintaining my balance in life.