Originally Posted by
Maritsa
I'm sharing a personal story that may help people understand what it means to be yourself and/or, it this is how you look at it, self develop.
Before knowing Socionics, my typical self was as Jung described shrieked away from objects, at the intensity of them, hence needed people and things to approach me smoothly, gently; I was passionate about my moral beliefs and how I judged the way others viewed things and their expression of things (I came to correct people's beliefs and adjust them according to how I saw them), so I was very much "I believe" "You should" "It would be right if x." Can you imagine how much energy one spends regulating thoughts for others when you are being at the center of life's experience? Too much. You begin to feel resentful, alone, because really no one else feels like they are like you and truly most people are not. They are just experiencing those things that provide them with pleasurable experiences. I didn't understand those differences about myself. I never evaluated my self in terms of my way of thinking being fair or not, they were "me." So, here comes Socionics saying "you are a judging rational type, who conveys feelings of love (as you feel them), morality, etc. and there is Joe and he sees life a bit differently from you." You begin to think, wow, I was never out to see Joe as he is, but to make an impression of myself on him. Joe has been himself all along, living the world around him in his constructed universe. So, I lax my moral judgement as I begin to the see the world more objectively, as I begin to see other people's feelings more objectively and from there, I relax, I begin to not be on moral expressiveness. How have I developed my own function when really I've done the opposite service to it? I've recognized when it wants to work and on what it does. I recognize the moments when it wants to be a passionate conspirer and what that will cost me in my relationships with people, the universe of ideas and possibilities beyond who I am and the impact that I want to make. I become less "I" focused.
Before Socionics, I did not recognize the objects or people that came at me intensely, I needed more of this idea of "protection." I've seen EII who hide under the arms of people who they see as strong willed, shrieking away from others without any reasonable cause, as though they are the disagreeable infant child who needs to be in their mother's/father's arm at all time lest they should run away and abandon them. I see these EII now and their behavior and I think, "how much more would you love life and enjoy it had you been able to recognize your self, what you do and how you act."