4 Reasons Why Intuitive Minds Are Misunderstood

How do you interpret the world around you? Do you focus on the reality of it or do you rely more on your imagination? Do you trust what you can see and touch or are you more inclined to believe your gut feeling? Sensing personalities (S) are observant realists; they assess situations according to the facts and they tend to be more traditional in their style of thinking. On the other hand, an intuitive personality (N) specializes in thinking outside the box! We are observant as well, but we trust what we feel more than what we can see. Intuitive minds are not interested in small talk; we crave a deep and meaningful conversation. We are interested in what is hidden, as opposed to what is right there for everyone to see. We like to explore our endless imagination, which opens the door for creativity and innovation.

Intuitive people enjoy a few perks, no doubt, but it also means we are often misunderstood. Wanting to feel understood is a natural human need. We all want it and that can become frustrating for someone with an intuitive mind. Our way of thinking contradicts what society may refer to as the norm, so we tend to get used to the feeling that nobody will ever truly understand us. We can easily come off as too intense and serious. I've had that said to me bluntly at a time when I didn't understand myself. We learn this the hard way growing up. At some point, we choose silence as opposed to expressing the chaos that goes on in our heads! I've had this feeling my entire life and I always wondered why. When I started reading about personality typing, I got my answer. Here are 4 reasons why intuitive minds are misunderstood:

1- Seeing the Other Side of Things
Intuition is what makes you see things from different perspectives or various points of view, always! Intuitive personalities know that everything cannot be simply divided into just right and wrong or black and white. There's always something there in the middle to understand motives. We never judge anyone because we simply haven't walked in their shoes. This defines who we are. However, it can be frustrating for someone seeking support from us because we cannot help but talk about the various perspectives in our heads to the situation. This makes us hard to understand for most people and we are deemed too complicated for it. I've experienced that in my life many times.

2- Over-Analyzing
We cannot let things go, can we? No, we have to analyze every single detail. We like to understand every aspect and look at the issue at hand from every angle. If you tell us something, it's very hard for us to take it at face value. We're open-minded about new ideas so it won't be dismissed completely, just analyzed. We need to understand how it came to be. If we are not convinced though, it can be seen as stubbornness. This can be unbearable to the people around intuitives. 

Over-analyzing naturally leads to over-thinking, which can get out of hand. It can trap us in an endless cycle of anxiety and depression simply because we try to understand everything around us. Our intuition makes us want everything and everyone peaceful and happy because that's what our inner voice thrives for, making us seem naive to the people around us.

3- Mistrusting Authority
We don't mean to, but because we don't follow blindly we may seem to others as somewhat rebellious to authority figures. Being an intuitive means you can easily see through the corruption of governments and unethical politicians in general, which made you question authority. Our minds don't grasp why there are so much hate and violence in the world.  

4- Viewing Success Differently
We tend to have a different metric for success than most people. Intuitive souls have a desire to make the world a better place and leave a truly positive impact. We value compassion, kindness, and endless creativity. This means that every intuitive mind will use these values and be successful on their own terms, which makes their success unique. I've taken the untraditional path when it comes to my career. I'm an engineer who chose to start from scratch to become a creative writer with a passion for jewelry making! I've learned how my mind works eventually and I can see clearly why I chose every job I've ever had. People don't understand my choices to this day and sometimes I can feel that they don't see it as successful simply because it's not their traditional path to success. 

There will always be endless reasons why people don't understand you. My advice is for you to try to be confident and happy with exactly who you are. Show your confidence to the world proudly.

Check out these 5 Benefits to Knowing Your Personality Type, so you can understand why self-awareness is key!

By: Amal Ghali