Sunday, April 28, 2013

Introverted Intuitive Feeling Judging (INFJ)

Few people can feel the inside world of another being as well as an INFJ. Being introverted, we turn to the inside of our world. Being intuitive, we acquire information without concious reasoning.  As such, we see things beyond the surface of the subject. We prioritize emotional needs over logical facts. And thus, we may appear to be doing things that are out of the place, different from other people. We are planners, and order and a structured environment is our answer to security, allowing our souls to wonder into dreamy land. In the following penned down thoughts, i offer a simpler view into the world of an INFJ, my world.

(Introversion + Intuition)
Being Introverted and Intuitive, we easily understand how another's inside world is, and would turn inwards into ourselves to ponder on what we had seen. As such, the inside working of others affect our inner world directly and when our type fails to cover our emotions up, we appear emo. What others fail to realise is that our emo-ness is a direct reflection of the feelings of people around us. Though we are able to understand another deeply, we yearn to meet someone who can understand the workings of our inside world. But understanding us is a whole new issue, only people who takes the effort to get through the many layers of us knows us. We know you, and will let only a few into us. We cherish everyone, but only people who understand how deep and complex we are appreciates us.

(Introversion + Feeling)
Being Introverted and making decisions based on our Feelings, we empathize with both sides of the parties and this makes us hard to support one side of a story fully. Unable to take a side for the conflict, we in turn internalize conflicts into ourselves, causing frequent stress and resulting in health issues. We thus hold back our wealth of insights into conflicts and often take a neutral stance. Its because of this trait that makes most counsellors and peace-makers. Only in dire situations will we voice out strongly about what we had known and after doing so, if our advice is not heed, we will enter a state of devastation.

(Introversion + Judging)
Being Introverted and having a Judging function, our plan is partially influenced the makings of our inner world. As planners with a deep and complex inner world, we strives to turn our fantasies into realities. Our plans seldom revolves around logic, and its no wonder that people would label us as being unrealistic. Being in control of any situation is crucial to us, as its our way to protect our fragile world inside. However, having a dislike for being a center of attraction, we are often the manipulators behind the visual scenes.

(Intuition + Feeling)
When our Intuition combines with our preference of Feeling, we go along with people's opinion while suppressing ours. We are easy-going with people, yet hard on ourselves, because we believe people may not understand, but we do, so we have to. We feel sympathetic towards everything and will get depressed when misjudged by others. With our acute insight into the future and people and being focused on building a harmonious relationship among all, we are drawn to the idea of "a better tomorrow."

(Intuition + Judging)
Combining Intuitiveness and Judging function, our plans are based also on our intuition about the subject, together with the workings of our inner world. Being able to see beyond the surface, we choose who we work for carefully. People with hidden ulterior motives eiks us out. Despite this, we would first feel what they feel and understand the reason for their actions. We strive for peace and would take the length to counsel the subject, sometimes waiting for years, while manipulating behind the scenes to prevent a conflict. We loathe lying to others, and only in critical situations will we lie about a subject. So if you know that we are lying, you should know that there is deeper meaning to it.

(Feeling + Judging)
When making a decision involving people, our Feeling and Judging means we take into consideration how people feels and their needs and choose a course where it will accommodate everyone.

We are people with deep thoughts, and needs plenty of alone time. Despite this, we often appear as being extroverted as we have a knit for getting people together. People fascinates us and we are always out there mingling with people to understand them more. Extreme INFJs sometimes have abilities beyond the norm, what people label as, "physic." Examples are ability to see into the future or know things beyond what the five senses can gather. One often heard little about it, and an INFJ is often unlikely to tell anyone about their little secret. Well, no one would believe, and those who believe, INFJ need not tell. What can i say to non-believers?  If you believe in Jesus or Gandhi, believe in the power of an INFJ. Because both of them are INFJs too.

In groups, INFJs may appear differently in different situations. In groups where there are lots of talking going around, an INFJ would usually be the silent-one, taking a back seat, listening attentively. In groups where there isn't much talking ongoing, an INFJ is likely to be seen as an extrovert, initiating talks and getting people into a conversations. There is a way to tell a person's an INFJ and not an extrovert. One's the dialogue is up and going, with everyone into the conversation, an INFJ will retreat back into their inner world. Friends who are attentive will realise this trait of an INFJ.

In friendships, INFJ hates competition. They will walk the length to make sure that their friends are up and going. INFJs are like aliens to the world. When people fails to understand INFJs and their complex world within, they see INFJs as outcast and simplistic. It is this problem that makes an INFJ yearning to be accepted by everyone, just like everyone else.

An INFJ will never harbour any ill intentions, or should i say "can never", because their sympathy for the world prevents them from adding suffering to the already suffering world the INFJ is seeing. INFJs are often so caught up with their intuition, that they are often unaware of their surroundings. Guys who process such deep intuition often appear unmanly, and that's a problem i have all along. In order to cover up our fragile world within, we often tries to appear cool on the exterior, and in the process, being seen as an extrovert.

You may think that after reading this post you have understood an INFJ, but i am quite sorry. These are just pieces of me that can be put into words. Each INFJ has his own little world within, and on the surface, we still yearn for love, just like anyone else.

I am a male, 22 years as of 2013, and i am proud to be part of the rare INFJ group.