Since starting college, I have almost fallen in love with the Myers-Briggs personality profiles and how they apply to my loved ones and myself. I discovered the wonderful world of Myers-Briggs my freshman year of college and it actually took me about two years to "type" myself because I would take and re-take the test and would get a different result almost every time I took the test. I finally discovered an online article on the Cognitive Functions used by each Myers-Briggs type and was able to deduce that I am a flaming INFP.
The more research I did on INFPs, the more I found that they are viewed as the dreamers of the world, the ones who's head is always stuck in the clouds and when they do take a look at the world around them they become overwhelmed with sadness because reality doesn't match up with their fantasy world. While I've found this to be slightly true and dealing with unmet expectations has been a struggle for me, INFPs aren't helpless dreamers who can't deal with the real world.
Being an INFP is a bit of a struggle because we process information best when we are all by ourselves researching our thoughts and opinions until we form a conviction that we can really believe in, then implementing our convictions in a flexible plan that allows for spontaneity and a possible future change of opinion. It's tempting to just take life one day at a time, going through the motions necessary to sustain life, like showing up at work and eating, and avoiding thinking about what's going to happen next week, month or in five years. When I am forced to plan my future, all of the possibilities stack up in a seemingly overwhelming pile of options that I have to sift through and choose from but I've found that it is possible for even an INFP to plan for the future.
Planning requires time, a realistic look at the physical and financial world and then a schedule for implementing that plan. As an INFP, I've found that the best way to descend from the cloud world is to take the time write down everything that needs to be worked into your life, then keep working on fitting your list of necessities into a practical routine or timeline. It's very hard to choose one course of action that could possibly rule out pleasurable experiences that would arise from other courses, but when one course is finally chosen it's very relieving to have a decision made and a schedule to follow that will maintain physical needs. While it's hard to choose one course of action over the hundreds of other possible options, having a scheduled framework is actually liberating for me as an INFP because once I have that nailed down I can see what new adventures are possible within that framework.
