INFP - the healer....

For years i found it hard to believe i am a Leo. I wondered if sun-signs were really true, or accurate.. or even made any sense.. but it seemed to make sense to many other people.. most other people.. they were always able to 'belong'.. then why din't i? i would wonder why i could never find the remotest similarity between me and the described characteristics of a leo.. i came to the conclusion that perhaps the date of my birth was wrong.. and then searched all the other sun-signs for a shred of resemblance..i found there would be some in all the signs..but i couldn't possibly be all put together.. makes no sense... was i like an exception to the rule? the person who could be fit nowhere? or was all of this just meaningless coincidence that worked for some people only..

after several years of this confusion.. one of my dear friends introduced me to the concept of MBTI.. according to which all the people in this world can be broadly divided in 16 personality types.. depending on whether they are introverted or extroverted they way they perceive, sense the world and they way they judge, make decisions..

one online test later.. i found myself reading a description.. of what seemed to be exactly me. i felt like someone who had known me for longer than ever and better than me had actually written down every single thing about me.. exactly the way i have been. it was a wonderful feeling.. to see that a concept exists that is able to describe me.. and able to even describe quite accurately the other people i know..

according to this concept.. i am an INFP.. Introverted, iNtuitive, Feeling, Perceiving person.. which is pretty much true.. and makes sense..

reading about myself helped a lot.. in understanding me better.. and explaining a few of my charectaristics.. and figuring out why i have always felt so misunderstood..

A brief description of INFP --- (scraped from here )


The Portait of the Healer (INFP)

Healer Idealists are abstract in thought and speech. Healer present a seemingly tranquil, and noticably pleasant face to the world, and though to all appearances they might seem reserved, and even shy, on the inside they are anything but reserved, having a capacity for caring not always found in other types. They care deeply-indeed, passionately-about a few special persons or a favorite cause, and their fervent aim is to bring peace and integrity to their loved ones and the world.

Healers have a profound sense of idealism derived from a strong personal morality, and they conceive of the world as an ethical, honorable place. Indeed, to understand Healers, we must understand their idealism as almost boundless and selfless, inspiring them to make extraordinary sacrifices for someone or something they believe in. The Healer is the Prince or Princess of fairytale, the King's Champion or Defender of the Faith, like Sir Galahad or Joan of Arc. Healers are found in only 1 percent of the general population, although, at times, their idealism leaves them feeling even more isolated from the rest of humanity.

Healers seek unity in their lives, unity of body and mind, emotions and intellect, perhaps because they are likely to have a sense of inner division threaded through their lives, which comes from their often unhappy childhood. Healers live a fantasy-filled childhood, which, unfortunately, is discouraged or even punished by many parents. In a practical-minded family, required by their parents to be sociable and industrious in concrete ways, and also given down-to-earth siblings who conform to these parental expectations, Healers come to see themselves as ugly ducklings. Other types usually shrug off parental expectations that do not fit them, but not the Healers. Wishing to please their parents and siblings, but not knowing quite how to do it, they try to hide their differences, believing they are bad to be so fanciful, so unlike their more solid brothers and sisters. They wonder, some of them for the rest of their lives, whether they are OK. They are quite OK, just different from the rest of their family-swans reared in a family of ducks. Even so, to realize and really believe this is not easy for them. Deeply committed to the positive and the good, yet taught to believe there is evil in them, Healers can come to develop a certain fascination with the problem of good and evil, sacred and profane. Healers are drawn toward purity, but can become engrossed with the profane, continuously on the lookout for the wickedness that lurks within them. Then, when Healers believe thay have yielded to an impure temptation, they may be given to acts of self-sacrifice in atonement. Others seldom detect this inner turmoil, however, for the struggle between good and evil is within the Healer, who does not feel compelled to make the issue public.

(end of scraped content)

the best thing i like about this concept is.. it has nothing to do with religious beliefs, no astrology and no fate involved. it makes sense. its based on analysis and observation.

if anyone reading this feels compelled to figure out their personality type, the test may be taken here

information about all types is freely available on the net. just google it.