Restlessness and INFJ

Kwistalline

Kwistalline

Permanent Fixture
MBTI
INFJ
Are we restless? At least, do we become so when we are loaded down?

In spite of how calm I feel, and mostly appear, I am restless by nature. My inner peace has been ruffled a bit by circumstances and stringent schedules of late, and I long to be free from this . . . ridiculous insanity. I was always a bit restless before. I've had impulsive desires to hop on a plane with nothing and trek through India and southern Asia. Just because.

And yet my rationale side restricts me. For good reason. But the desire is still there. Anyone else ever restless? Is it a stress thing, or does the INFJ have an insatiable appetite for adventure locked away somewhere? I have this feeling there is something better out there, some great calling awaiting my answer . . .
 
As an INFP.... I'm almost the opposite when I'm feelin' the stress. I want to revert! I wanna go back to when it was easy for me to not have any expectations or responsibilities... and i could do what i wanted, within the limits of having no money (because of course a job is a responsibility).

So... I'm not quite sure i can relate to the restlessness. Sometimes i have the notion that it would be incredibly liberating to just take a trip out of the blue... but first i must be cured of my materialistic addiction. Want an example? Everywhere i go, i tote around this HUGE purse... just in case i need anything in it. It's a comfort thing.
 
Sometimes I wonder about all the adventures I'm missing out on and masterpieces that go uncreated as I'm busy trying to live up to expectations of people that don't value the same things that I do.
 
Stone said:
Sometimes I wonder about all the adventures I'm missing out on and masterpieces that go uncreated as I'm busy trying to live up to expectations of people that don't value the same things that I do.
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You know, that is probably true.
 
Though I think most people desire to be free to do what they really want don't they?
 
I forgot were I read this but, It seems that INFJ's desire to be ENTP's careless and free I guess.

like today I hurt my finger. I was swimming and I slide my hand ontop of the laneline swimming freestyle.
I started to get really despressed. I was thinking about how I have to keep on swimming and how it might damage it
more. I then thought of how everytime a cell is produced in the body it gets weaker and ages and that I couldn't
reverse the problem or find a solution to make cells more proficient at healing. So I was really sad and being
very perfectionist I started feeling inferior and should just quit living. Then I started to think of stuff like
when I die I wake up and find out its just dark. That I'm just in my mind alone. So after an hour I did calm
down.

I guess I wish a was more Sensing sometimes, my intuition drives me crazy some times. :shock:
 
Yes, restlessness has been with me as long as I can remember. Restlessness and a yearning for adventure, a surprise, an opportunity, ok let's get going and then we learn that life isn't exactly like that. We are taught and brainwashed by the schools, some churches, religions, politicians, lawmakers and especially the media. They are the teachers and the ones who decide who we are, how we should act, what we should do, what we should expect, and what our limits are - they create our lives for us and we follow the rules. For pity sake people around here are afraid to discipline their kids anymore for fear of being in trouble with the law! We are sheep, and not in a good way. I think the inner restlessness is telling us that this is inherently wrong and we are so much more than we are being told.
 
HenRick said:
I forgot were I read this but, It seems that INFJ's desire to be ENTP's careless and free I guess.

like today I hurt my finger. I was swimming and I slide my hand ontop of the laneline swimming freestyle.
I started to get really despressed. I was thinking about how I have to keep on swimming and how it might damage it
more. I then thought of how everytime a cell is produced in the body it gets weaker and ages and that I couldn't
reverse the problem or find a solution to make cells more proficient at healing. So I was really sad and being
very perfectionist I started feeling inferior and should just quit living. Then I started to think of stuff like
when I die I wake up and find out its just dark. That I'm just in my mind alone. So after an hour I did calm
down.

I guess I wish a was more Sensing sometimes, my intuition drives me crazy some times. :shock:
Click to expand...
we're not careless. we're just egotistical and free.
 
Yes especially as of late...when all the work you have been doing to get to a certain thing a goal if you will and in one day everything falls through and none of your goals are attainable now. I was so restless waiting for them and now im restless because I just want to move away from here and start over somewhere new! I'm so tired of it! SO yes I am so restless and its ten fold right now!
 
Uh-ha!

I'm finding this all very interesting, how many things I feel as though I have in common with INFJs that is!

When I feel stressed I become driven but when I feel lost I get very restless (and vice versa, when I feel restless I feel lost), I’ve been there for the past two weeks or so, basically living in my head and trying to find myself again, I even struggled to do things that I usually enjoy, I just wanted to experience something different, anything that would result in feeling excited or adrenaline, it was almost a compulsion.

Kwistalline said:
And yet my rationale side restricts me. For good reason. But the desire is still there. Anyone else ever restless? Is it a stress thing, or does the INFJ have an insatiable appetite for adventure locked away somewhere? I have this feeling there is something better out there, some great calling awaiting my answer . . .
Click to expand...
Yes! Yes! Yes!

I'm extremely adventurous, although it isn't necessarily locked away but the last part is one of the most regular thoughts in my head. The desire to get out there and see the world is very strong, even just thinking about it makes me restless :roll: I allow my rationale to restrict me more out of obligation, comfort and tradition then anything.

I think Sumone summed it up well, we are taught to be good citizens, to get a job and slot into society the way that it is without asking too many questions, thinking outside the square around here can result in having your knees chopped off to bring you back down to size, we also appear to be taught to do that. I’m a big believer in ignoring what society thinks is best for me and making my own path by dreaming big. That adds to the restlessness.
 
ShaiGar said:
HenRick said:
I forgot were I read this but, It seems that INFJ's desire to be ENTP's careless and free I guess.

like today I hurt my finger. I was swimming and I slide my hand ontop of the laneline swimming freestyle.
I started to get really despressed. I was thinking about how I have to keep on swimming and how it might damage it
more. I then thought of how everytime a cell is produced in the body it gets weaker and ages and that I couldn't
reverse the problem or find a solution to make cells more proficient at healing. So I was really sad and being
very perfectionist I started feeling inferior and should just quit living. Then I started to think of stuff like
when I die I wake up and find out its just dark. That I'm just in my mind alone. So after an hour I did calm
down.

I guess I wish a was more Sensing sometimes, my intuition drives me crazy some times. :shock:
Click to expand...
we're not careless. we're just egotistical and free.
Click to expand...
Oops I meant estp's.
 
HenRick said:
ShaiGar said:
HenRick said:
I forgot were I read this but, It seems that INFJ's desire to be ENTP's careless and free I guess.

like today I hurt my finger. I was swimming and I slide my hand ontop of the laneline swimming freestyle.
I started to get really despressed. I was thinking about how I have to keep on swimming and how it might damage it
more. I then thought of how everytime a cell is produced in the body it gets weaker and ages and that I couldn't
reverse the problem or find a solution to make cells more proficient at healing. So I was really sad and being
very perfectionist I started feeling inferior and should just quit living. Then I started to think of stuff like
when I die I wake up and find out its just dark. That I'm just in my mind alone. So after an hour I did calm
down.

I guess I wish a was more Sensing sometimes, my intuition drives me crazy some times. :shock:
Click to expand...
we're not careless. we're just egotistical and free.
Click to expand...
Oops I meant estp's.
Click to expand...
very strange, you guys wish to be your opposites. an INFJ girl i once knew said she utterly hated ESTPs. I have no desire to be my opposite, the ISFJ.
 
I wouldnt wish to be my oposite! I know some and I have a really hard time relating to them...I dont hate them...Hoestly i dont hate anyone...But I dont wish to be them!
 
You all do come up with some great stuff!!!!

Yes, I do feel "restless" as well although I might put it in different terms...I see life as a journey and I always seem to be ready/eager for adventure. For me, it's like I feel basically at peace with the universe and my place in it, but since the universe's beauty is unfathomable, I feel drawn, even invited, to explore. That's what seems to propel me...utter fascination.

On a practical level, artistic pursuits (both at work and at home) are another level where I see this essential engagedness playing out. Most of my projects are fairly complex and this sense of creative movement inside me loves that.
 
You seem like a brave infj, I would love to pursue adventures and artistic pursuits more often without fear or guilt.
 
Restless. Yup, I feel it often and haven't exactly pinpointed the causes of all of it.

My retirement goal is to buy an RV, and motorcycles and hubby and I just motor all across the US. (26 years and counting).

The worst times are when I am plagued with that restlessness but at the same time totally unmotivated to do anything. Although when I do get moving, it seems I don't stop until I am completely physically exhausted.

When I was pregnant with my last, I remember being so anxious and restless with my in-laws in residence (not a good history there) I went on a cleaning spree that damn near had my doctor hospitalize me for.

Does anyone else do stuff like that? Work and work and work until you are exhausted and ready to drop?
 
alcyone said:
Does anyone else do stuff like that? Work and work and work until you are exhausted and ready to drop?
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I've worked my typical chores down into something I can do in a few hours...no biggie. But I frequently do get into projects where I am painting in one room, glueing in another, sanding in a third, and so on...going from station to station all day takes it's toll later, but at the time I am "in the zone" and having great fun!!! And if I manage to to all this and actually avoid personal injury, all the better!!!!!
 
gokartride said:
alcyone said:
Does anyone else do stuff like that? Work and work and work until you are exhausted and ready to drop?
Click to expand...
I've worked my typical chores down into something I can do in a few hours...no biggie. But I frequently do get into projects where I am painting in one room, glueing in another, sanding in a third, and so on...going from station to station all day takes it's toll later, but at the time I am "in the zone" and having great fun!!! And if I manage to to all this and actually avoid personal injury, all the better!!!!!
Click to expand...

I wish I had more space! gokart, you have the ideal right there! If I had rooms for all my interests, it would be much easier to organize my life. Of course, it would also be complicated. There would be so many rooms I'd need a map to find them all!
 
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