meet other INFP's

Being an introvert, I celebrate my alone time, but I have learned that I need people time, too. Sometimes, it’s a fine balance that needs to be maintained.

I am a cross between an idealist and a realist. I’m not really a dreamer. I have an expectation of people, future events and circumstances. When I go too far to my idealistic side and get burnt about something, I kick myself and start sliding back to the realism side and tell myself to be more practical about things. It is something that I’ve never been able to balance perfectly.

I used to be more naive, because I thought no one would ever try to use others or manipulate others (d’hoh). Then I saw examples of this in my life and I realized that there are many different people in this world. Some people are incredibly giving, selfless and loving; and then on the other end of things are the Machiavellian types that we have to be careful about.

I tend to search out the loving and giving types of people and want to hang out with them and avoid the users and takers. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. I think we can learn a lot by having “good” people as role models.
It’s nice how we INFP types can sort of figure out people very fast, what their real motives are, or what they really care about. I’m glad that I’ve met some wonderful souls on this site whom I don’t put on a pedestal, but whom I admire.

Many people swear by the Myers Briggs personality classification, but I am aware that there can’t just be 16 types of personalities in this crazy world. ;) I know that within each classification, such as INFP (introverted; intuitive; feeling; perceiving), there are an infinite combination of weightings and preferences, so that no two INFPs are exactly alike.

I had a Myers Briggs done many years ago by a professional and again every time I take the tests, I come out as an INFP. I meet a lot of the classic descriptors about this category. Some people don’t realize that I am an introvert, because I work hard to be more outgoing and it uses up a lot of energy to do so. Whenever I perform music in my singing quartet or church rock band, or take part in a play production where I have to be out, front and centre, I find that I am exhausted afterwards. Some people thrive on this, but I need a bit of time to relax and recover. ;)

I love having time to myself and if the phone doesn’t ring for 8 hours straight, that’s fine for me. Some extroverts can’t live longer than a few hours without being with or talking with others. I can often read peoples’ thoughts and state of mind fairly easily, while another introverted non-INFP friend of mine seems totally clued out in that regard. I only wish I had this person’s math skills, though. So you see, everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses and I do like to meet other INFPs because we tend to share a lot of common traits and I can usually connect at a much more interesting level with an INFP, or INTP, than I do with other types of people.