Cognition is the result of where you naturally focus your attention, your desires, and your interests.  Regardless of what your momentary desires or interests may be, each of us has certain deep, secret hopes that mean more to us than anything.  While moods and opinions may change, these deepest desires are such a pure reflection of who we really are.  In a world where there is so much to do, so much to experience, so much need and so many discoveries waiting to be found, we each inadvertently focus the most on some things over others.  The things that we focus on most of all reflect what we want most out of life, deep down.  This comes out through cognition, as the unique specialization of your cognitive type.

As the ENFJ Veteran, perhaps nothing is more important to you than teaching, leading, helping, and caring for those you love.  Cognitively, you focus on taking appropriate actions (EJ) to bring out the potential meaning (NF) that you and your loved ones may enjoy.  This causes you to think of everything in terms of how it applies to particular, real people you know, rather than to theoretical people as a trend.  What matters most to you, deep down, is helping those close to you learn, grow, and gain greater lasting joy.

 

This gives Veterans a timeless, ageless sense of wisdom, focusing on how their group fits into the context of all time.  They look to the past in order to consider what people have done and what events have transpired, but ultimately they live in the now, and are ever building the future.  ENFJs live for their group, their friends and loved ones, and anyone else whose aims of meaning overlap with their own.  The joys and successes of their friends, as well as their pains and heartaches, are nearly indistinguishable from the Veteran’s own feelings, which leads healthy Veterans to readily sacrifice their own comfort and convenience for the good of anyone in need.

None of this means that your specialization of teaching and standing by others comes easy for you.  You have to work at it, just as much as anyone else would.  The difference between you and other types is that you care to work at this, above all else.  Some may say that it’s just easier for you to be caring, optimistic, or considerate of others’ points of view, but that’s not true; you simply care enough about building bridges between people, that you’re willing to work much harder at it.

No cognitive type has it easy; every type has to work just as hard at their specialization as anyone else would have to.  And every type has to deal with social pressure that tries to make them feel ashamed or embarrassed of their unique specialization.  This pressure results in unhappiness and deep, internal conflict, as people feel tempted to ignore their specialization in an effort to not stand out, rock the boat, or look foolish or make anyone else uncomfortable.  When we try to ignore our own deepest desires, the reflection of who we really are and really can be, we feel torn, frustrated, and unfulfilled.

This is why understanding our own cognition is so important!  As we come to understand what we already wanted in the first place, we learn how to get out of our own way.  We learn to let ourselves shine, rather than hiding our light.  The world needs what each of us can uniquely offer.  We need all the strengths of all the types; each is special at the same time, because each is special in a different way.  You don’t do anyone any good when you hide your unique strength, even if you’re afraid it will make others feel uncomfortable.  Let yourself be the Veteran you are, patiently guide others along the path, and do it in your own personal way.  As you do, you’ll implicitly give others permission to stand on their own, and lead their own loved ones down the shining path you’ve shown.