Understanding our own personality type can be freeing, especially if we feel we don't fit in. I grew up not feeling that I fit in, and that isolating experience was made worse by constant moving. I not only didn't fit in, I was the new girl that was being looked at... at least it seemed to me at the time.
I have taken at least five or six different personality tests over the last few days. They are all based on the Meyers-Briggs personality tests. A few of the tests I have taken repeatedly, just to be sure the results were correct. Time and time again I was given the same determination: INFP. I took another one just a few moments ago because a part of me wonders if I am answering what I wish instead of what I truly am. So many of the questions contain wording where I wanna answer, "It depends on the situation."
Reading about INFPs is intriguing though. I am an introvert. Many people that meet me would never expect that I am an introvert because I'm not shy or easily intimidated by people. I have no problem speaking in front of a group.
But introversion is misunderstood. I'm not the life of the party. Extroversion versus introversion all has to do with what energizes us. I get recharged being alone. Hand me a coffee and a good book and I'll be content. I don't get energized by talking with people. I can do it, but I would rather talk in front of a group than make small talk. But if I am having a meaningful conversation, I can talk endlessly.
I have a couple of loved ones in my life that LOVE the phone. They call me and could talk for hours. One beautiful woman calls me nearly daily on her drive home from work. She wants to talk, even though she has just spent eight hours in the phone talking to people in her work! My commute time was always spent with the radio on, listening to and singing with some music, relaxing. She would rather talk. To me, it seems crazy, but her personality is different than mine. It's how God made her.
Reading about my personality is somewhat freeing. Even though only about four percent of the population is INFP, at least I know I have others that are wired similar. Reading about my personality explains why I live so much in my head, can live in a fantasy world some days, and have always been drawn to books and writing.
I like exploring the INFP personality traits because I feel like I can be me now. I spent so much time wanting to be someone else, someone more practical or organized or outgoing. Now I know that who I am is perfectly fine, and I can stop shutting down that part of myself that I thought was inferior in some way.
I had my children take the Meyers-Briggs test. Discovering their personalities helps me understand them a little better. Of all my children, I only have one extrovert. My youngest is the same as me in all the levels except she is an extrovert and I am an introvert. This explains why she wants to sing in front of the crowd and talks to everyone she meets. It explains why she goes to the store and the library and talks off the ears of the cashiers and librarians. My other daughters would rather stay home.
My husband is an introvert also. Usually opposites attract, but like I said, I'm an introvert that isn't shy. My husband is super quiet and reserved, even with people he knows. I am not when I am around friends and family. I want to talk about what is going on in our lives or the newest book or our last trip, but only to those I love.
I don't think classifying people is my goal. It is about understanding others and myself. It is about knowing that others are different, and that is okay. I knew children learned differently, but now I know that people can be very different from each other, even in the same family. It's one of those things we know, but until we see it practically, we don't realize why they do the things they do or why they feel or think the way they do. Sometimes we don't realize why we ourselves act the way we do or feel the way we feel, as if something is wrong with us if we are different and don't fit into the mold laid before us.
It is a comfort to know that God created me te way He did with a purpose, and that I am okay being the woman He made me to be.
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