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[INFP] INFPs, think you're special?

JivinJeffJones

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INFPs, are you convinced in some deep, intuitive (or counter-intuitive) way that you are special? I don't mean special in the sense that everyone is special. I'm talking about a gut feeling that you have some special calling or potential in life which is out of the ordinary. Is this an INFP thing? IF so, do you think this has had a positive or a negative effect on your life?
 

anii

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I used to believe that, and it had a negative effect on my life.
 
R

RDF

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INFPs, are you convinced in some deep, intuitive (or counter-intuitive) way that you are special? I don't mean special in the sense that everyone is special. I'm talking about a gut feeling that you have some special calling or potential in life which is out of the ordinary. Is this an INFP thing? IF so, do you think this has had a positive or a negative effect on your life?

I had that feeling when I was young, but I didn't thoroughly trust it. Eventually I noticed that lots of other young people had it too, so I learned to ignore my own feeling about it. Nowadays I feel decidedly average and unspecial, and I like the liberty and ease of feeling average.

I revel in my unspecialness. :party2:
 

Eve

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I'm talking about a gut feeling that you have some special calling or potential in life which is out of the ordinary. Is this an INFP thing? IF so, do you think this has had a positive or a negative effect on your life?

I think a lot of people have that feeling. I had a 'calling' early in my life that I tried to ignore for many years, now I'm working towards it; the impact has been very positive so far.

Edit - I don't mean 'calling' in a religious sense. I'm talking about knowing what you want to do with your life and actually doing it, regardless of what other people might think. Other than that, I'd say my 'calling' is rather ordinary.
 
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runvardh

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Sure, special like every other dipshit on this rock :D
 

SolitaryWalker

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INFPs, are you convinced in some deep, intuitive (or counter-intuitive) way that you are special? I don't mean special in the sense that everyone is special. I'm talking about a gut feeling that you have some special calling or potential in life which is out of the ordinary. Is this an INFP thing? IF so, do you think this has had a positive or a negative effect on your life?


Yes, this is a common property of Introverted Judgment. INTPs can well relate to this. That is the essence of the abstract, inner purpose that tends to be the guiding light of INP thought.
 

Varelse

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Yes, this is a common property of Introverted Judgment. INTPs can well relate to this.
Actually, I usually place people, especially myself, in the category of a mess.:huh:
 

Kiddo

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INFPs, are you convinced in some deep, intuitive (or counter-intuitive) way that you are special? I don't mean special in the sense that everyone is special. I'm talking about a gut feeling that you have some special calling or potential in life which is out of the ordinary. Is this an INFP thing? IF so, do you think this has had a positive or a negative effect on your life?

I always have and even now have that feeling. I even gloat about it in my intro. :blush:

It's probably because I have never met anyone else like me and I've been told by teachers and counselors in the past that they expect something great of me. It has often proven to be a negative thing because some people just love to prove that you aren't special, and in fact, are inferior to them. However, the positive aspect is that little by little I have learned how strong I truly am and how strong everyone else in this world really is. There is nothing I love more than helping people realize that hidden strength. And I think it is that attitude that makes me unique. Because anyone can tear someone down, but I find it takes a special kind of experience or personality to be able to build anyone up.
 
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GZA

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I kind of do, actually, but I don't know what it is. For some reason, I do kind of feel like I should do something big, and the idea of an "everyday" working job isn't nearly as appealing as doing something big with true mastery, something that really moves people. In essence, as you said, like I have a calling or potential out of the ordinary to make people think differently and feel differently.

But... I don't know if it would be something I'd want to do my whole life, whatever it is. Living a "normal" life would be fine, but I'd want to have the sense of accomplishment from the big thing behind it first. There's still no reason an everyday job can't give people a sense of accomplishment and contribution to the community.

I'd say these dreams of mine (if you can call them that, they are too vague to be much of anything) are generally frowned upon. Maybe I'm naiive, or maybe most people lack the balls to try to do something grand, and maybe most people refuse to beleive that the people they know could go on to do something "larger" than the everyday thing. Maybe all of those are true, maybe none of them are. But in my experience I know two people who are on track to become pretty big. One is set to be the Canadian Olympic pair figure-skater (and at this point she would probably have to try to fail), and one is fairly well on their way to becoming a professional hockey player. One of them I only vaguely know (she is the daughter of my parent's friends, so I've met her a couple of times though I hardly remember), and the other has lived next to me for my entire life. If they can it, theres no reason I can't (other than the fact I have no idea what it is I want to do!). Still, its kind of frowned upon to have big dreams.

Perhaps it makes sense that older people don't beleive that people can actually do these things, and maybe it makes sense that they just kind of roll it off like its nothing if you say you want to do something big. As other people have said, most young people have big dreams. But as I said earlier, I don't think people in general (meaning of any age) have the nuts to actually try to make these dreams happen. In light of that, it makes sense they would look at the dreams of young people and say "no, it won't work" because it never worked for them and the people they know. Still, the people who say that dreams are impossible (in my case, teachers, parents, and sometimes other kids) seem impatient and unimaginative. Blah, its a mess...
 

JivinJeffJones

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Yes, this is a common property of Introverted Judgment. INTPs can well relate to this. That is the essence of the abstract, inner purpose that tends to be the guiding light of INP thought.

Interesting. I'll have to look into that.

There is nothing I love more than helping people realize that hidden strength. And I think it is that attitude that makes me unique.

Very INFJ. :D As INFJ as the tendency to shut people out when they repeatedly fail to realize that hidden strength.


Oh noez, I have turned this into an INFJ thread!
 

Kiddo

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Very INFJ. :D As INFJ as the tendency to shut people out when they repeatedly fail to realize that hidden strength.

Cough...well...perhaps I have been a bit guilty of that in the past. :blush:

I didn't know that it was an INFJ trait though.
 

prplchknz

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What's the point of living, if you believe your the same as everyone else? I don't think I'm special or talented, but I do believe that it's important to try to make something of your self. This doesn't mean being succesful by societies terms just yours. If your definition of success is getting to travel and you get to good for you, if you want a family excellent.

I use to think I was special, but I'm learning that everyone else thinks they're special aswell, and we can't all be special so somebody isn't. It doesn't mean I can't work towards greatness.
 

Kiddo

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I use to think I was special, but I'm learning that everyone else thinks they're special aswell, and we can't all be special so somebody isn't.

I've never really understood this thinking. Everyone is unique and special. Just think of all the ways we are different. We come from different places having different experiences with different people, we have different bodies based on different genetics, we all have our own way of perceiving and interpreting the world, and we all have our own beliefs. Every individual is one of a kind, and no one like him or her has ever existed nor will ever exist ever again.

I believe it is that uniqueness and the problems we all share that make us so similar, but I can't see how being the same in that sense makes us any less special. Diversity is what is common in the natural world, and it's also what makes it so beautiful. To say that because I'm special in my own ways that someone else can't be special in theirs just doesn't make any sense to me.
 

prplchknz

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I'm thinking special as in exceptionally smart or talent, I know their are people like that, but I know I'm not hell I fall in the average range for IQ and I actually have to study to get grades. I enjoy different hobbies, but I know that I'm not the greatest.
 

Kiddo

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I'm thinking special as in exceptionally smart or talent, I know their are people like that, but I know I'm not hell I fall in the average range for IQ and I actually have to study to get grades. I enjoy different hobbies, but I know that I'm not the greatest.

Hm...special as in exceptional. I have found that to be a sad myth. I have had the privilege of meeting a lot of extraordinary talent and genius in my short life and I can honestly say that alone isn't special. Often, those exceptional people will find themselves with other exceptional people and they will then come to realize how being exceptional alone doesn't make them special.

There is always someone better, and even if you were the best, it doesn't mean you will always be the best. Take an Olympic runner, they can win the Gold medal for next year, but chances are that they will be too old by the next Olympics to run again. They were the best at that age, and at that point in time. Whatever record they may have set will probably be broken over time. They were exceptional, but that alone didn't make them special and they certainly don't cease being special because they are no longer exceptional.

Of course, you might argue that being exceptional makes them more special. But how do you really measure how special someone is? Is it by how amazing they were compared to their peers? How much they accomplished in their life? How many people they influenced over the course of their life? If you get down to it, there are as many measures of how a person was special as there are ways of being special. In other words, when you try to measure specialness, it is so subjective it is meaningless.

No, I don't envy the exceptional anymore than I envy the suffering. Both are getting something out of life that I probably will never experience, but those special factors alone don't make them any more or less special in the grand scheme of things. Our individual uniqueness is far more special.
 

prplchknz

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Hm...special as in exceptional. I have found that to be a sad myth. I have had the privilege of meeting a lot of extraordinary talent and genius in my short life and I can honestly say that alone isn't special. Often, those exceptional people will find themselves with other exceptional people and they will then come to realize how being exceptional alone doesn't make them special.

There is always someone better, and even if you were the best, it doesn't mean you will always be the best. Take an Olympic runner, they can win the Gold medal for next year, but chances are that they will be too old by the next Olympics to run again. They were the best at that age, and at that point in time. Whatever record they may have set will probably be broken over time. They were exceptional, but that alone didn't make them special and they certainly don't cease being special because they are no longer exceptional.

Of course, you might argue that being exceptional makes them more special. But how do you really measure how special someone is? Is it by how amazing they were compared to their peers? How much they accomplished in their life? How many people they influenced over the course of their life? If you get down to it, there are as many measures of how a person was special as there are ways of being special. In other words, when you try to measure specialness, it is so subjective it is meaningless.

No, I don't envy the exceptional anymore than I envy the suffering. Both are getting something out of life that I probably will never experience, but those special factors alone don't make them any more or less special in the grand scheme of things. Our individual uniqueness is far more special.

Good point, I don't know how I feel about specialness, like you said it's subjective very little in life isn't except maybe math. So maybe I am special, what do I know? I don't feel special.
 

Varelse

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Good points, Kiddo. I guess my frustration with this comes in when people consider themselves to be special in a way that makes them more important than everyone else, and thus expect the other people to automatically give way to them.

Understanding where your strengths are, and working to make the most of them, I find admirable. Arrogant, "I'm special, I have a destiny, and if you disagree with me on anything then you're hindering me," is greatly annoying.
 

quietmusician

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I used to believe that. Then I realized that if I was actually special it would have presented itself by now. Lost a few good years thinking like that.
 

BlueScreen

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I think I have my own individual qualities, but if special in any way means more important than the next person, I'm not. I actually find being an insignificant entity on a small planet rotating around a pretty average star, somewhere in the middle rings of a common spiral galaxy quite inspiring. It means I'm not all there is, because if I am all there is then the universe is a pretty empty and boring place. And some divine creature played a pretty sick trick on us.
 
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