By Rebecca Temsen
Contributing Author, Conscious Reminder
Sensitive people usually hear the same things from their friends and family members. They hear comments like, “You’re too sensitive” and “You need to have thicker skin.”
Additionally, sensitive people often feel they can’t be themselves in society because many people grew up feeling that sharing one’s feelings was wrong. Sensitive people don’t provoke such treatment. It has just been ingrained in the minds of some other persons.
Being highly sensitive could be a results of many things. Anxiety, overwhelm and stress can make you more sensitive than you should be. To add to that, if you’ve been going through it for a long time, being extra sensitive might just stick. You might be a sensitive person if you’ve heard similar phrases from loved ones. However, there’s good and bad to sensitivity. Here’s a checklist of a sensitive person’s characteristics, benefits of being sensitive and what you can do if you find that you are overly sensitive.
10 Traits Of A Highly Sensitive Person
1. You’re Introverted
You enjoy keeping to yourself most of the time. You’re not always introverted, but you probably spend most of the time in your own world so to speak. You probably prefer that because you are highly reactive to your environment. You may feel that you can keep everything calm and relaxed if you can control the situation.
2. You Cry About Other People’s Pain
You have a deep sense of empathy that allows you to feel other people’s pain and express it. This makes you a very emotional person, but it also gives you the gift of comforting others. Empathy is a quality that does not exist enough in the world. Cherish it if you have it.
3. You Hate Violence and Abuse
You’re a person who respects humanity and appreciates peace. Therefore, violence and abuse are personal pet peeves of yours. You don’t like to see other people hurt, so you steer clear of those elements, and you fight for justice whenever you need to.
4. Criticism and Negativity Hurt You Dearly
The criticism area is where your sensitivity kicks in the most. Criticism from others feels like daggers straight into your heart sometimes.
Negativity feels like a knife shredding your soul open. That’s one characteristic of your sensitivity that you find the least attractive. It’s something you may need to work on to improve yourself. You must bring yourself to a place that allows you to deflect negativity and stay positive.
5. You Love Beauty and Art
You’re a fan of all things that are artistic, whether it’s music, visual art or performing art. You aspire to be one of those types of artists, and you appreciate others who are, as well. You’re the type who can get lost in a movie or a song-making process because of the joy that you feel when you’re enmeshed in it.
6. You’re Highly Insightful
You always have profound perceptions and insights to share with the world, and the world appreciates it. You have a special glow about yourself when you share your stories, which makes being around you a blessing to others.
7. You React Emotionally
You react to things in a highly emotional manner, which is like a double-edged sword for you. It can be bad when the thing that you’re reacting to is negative. You may need to develop some strategies for it.
8. You’re Deep Feeling
You love people, and you feel genuinely for them. You have no problem sharing your heart with other people and using it to do good things. People will love you back for this fantastic quality.
9. You Like Doing Things Alone
You have an independent spirit, so you have no problem going solo on a variety of things. The lack of company doesn’t bother you, but it gives you the freedom you need to do whatever you please.
10. You Don’t Like Conflict
As a sensitive person, you hate conflict and strife. You’ll do almost anything to avoid either one of those adverse situations. In fact, some people may refer to you as a peacemaker because you try to squash problems before they gain strength.
Those are a few sensitivity indicators. You must conduct a full inventory and assessment of yourself to get to the truth. You can conclude that you’re sensitive if you find that a lot of the above information describes you.
So Why Am I So Sensitive?
If you find yourself asking this question a lot, you probably wonder why you seem to be more sensitive than everyone else around you. Your sensitivity can stem from positive or negative origins. Here are some common reasons you may be that way.
Genetics
Your kind, caring and sensitive nature may be part of your original DNA. It may not be a blessing or a curse, but rather something that passed down to you through the generations. Maybe it runs in your blood, and you have an extra helping of it that your other family members don’t have. Whatever it’s origin is, it makes you unique, and you should not be ashamed of it.
Hormones
Hormones can play a role in your sensitivity, and they can cause you to experience a broad range of emotions. They may be the culprit if you cry a lot and feel that you want to isolate yourself more than usual. Both things are fine, but they can be dangerous if they’re too excessive.
Life Experiences
Your life experiences shape you and help to develop you into who you are. The events you go through in life can make you more sensitive and empathetic toward others. They can also cause you to err on the side of too much caution with your heart.
Negative life experiences can cause you to shy away from people and lack trust. There’s a good and bad side to life-experience based sensitivity. Examine yours and make sure that it doesn’t hinder your growth.
Emotional Intelligence
You may have a high level of emotional intelligence, and that might make you more in tune with your range of emotions than the average person is. Embrace this part of yourself because it’s something to admire.
Your Love for People
A general love for people can teach you to be sensitive. It can make you want to bring everyone joy. You’ll feel disturbed if they are not. Love for people is one of the most beautiful qualities that a person can have. Be glad you possess it.
Benefits of Being Sensitive
You don’t have to see your sensitivity as a negative, especially since it has many positive sides. The following are nine benefits to being a sensitive person.
1. You’re More Compassionate
Your sensitive heart makes you more willing to help others who are in need and feel fantastic about doing it. You like to do things like donating to charity, visiting sick persons and counselling people who may not be feeling well emotionally. Sensitive people are highly compassionate, and compassion can be a blessing to everyone.
2. You Make Friends Easily
Because you’re so compassionate and empathetic, you also have a magnetic nature. People love to flock around you because you give off a positive vibe, and you care. Thus, you probably make friends quickly, and some of those friends last you a lifetime.
3. You’re Creative and Artistic
Sensitive people are in touch with their creative sides, and they make some of the best art. You might be excellent at poetry writing, painting or another form of beautiful artwork. Artists bring a life force to the world that is like no other. Be happy that you have that gift.
4. You’re a Dreamer
Sensitive people are dreamers, so they believe that anything is possible. They are optimistic people who always see the bright side of things and the good side of people. Additionally, such people have a lot of hope and faith. If this is you, then you have some lovely qualities.
5. You Work Hard to Perfect Things
Sensitive people are often perfectionists, which is a good thing sometimes. You’re probably a person who works hard to please your employers, professors and other people in your life. You’ll keep working on a project until it’s perfect according to such people’s standards.
6. You’re a Good Friend
Your sensitivity most likely makes you a great listener and advice giver. Therefore, you’re probably the one whom everybody comes to when he or she needs help. That’s a positive because it means that your friends and your loved ones trust you.
7. You’re Honest
Your conscience is most likely more active because you have a sensitive nature. In other words, you have a problem with doing things that are morally wrong, like lying.
While you’re not perfect, you do try your best not to lie to people, and you try to play by the rules in everything that you do. This is because you have empathy, and you know how you would feel if someone lied to you. You don’t want to make any other person feel the way that you would.
8. You’re Emotionally Brave
You’re not afraid to get raw and personal. If that means you cry in front of a crowd, then so be it. If it means that you express your anger bluntly, then you’ll do just that. Some people appreciate your raw emotion, and others don’t. Either way, it’s a huge part of who you are.
9. You’re an Excellent Nurturer
Your sensitive nature makes you want to nurture and coddle. You may have a motherly instinct that gives you excellent child caretaker skills, or you may be a fantastic pet sitter, veterinarian or some other care specialist. Use this warm quality to serve the community.
What I Can Do About My Sensitivity?
Being overly sensitive can have negative aspects to it. That’s what this section is for. Use these tips and tricks to manage your sensitivity when it causes you problems in life.
Criticism is difficult to handle for a highly sensitive person. It may feel like a dagger to the chest or a punch to the gut. What you must remember is that you can use criticism as a tool to improve yourself.
There’s always a clue within criticism that instructs you of what you need to do. You may need to take singing lessons if someone tells you that you can’t sing, for example. Use negativity and criticizing remarks and turn them into a beautiful piece of artwork.
Expose Yourself to More Criticism
You can learn to desensitize yourself to other people’s criticism if you expose yourself to it more. That process will help you to build “thick skin” as other people call it. Allow people to say what they will and even invite them to give you their opinions. Practice not taking their words to heart and letting them go before they can fester within you.
Get Involved in Journaling
Journaling is one of the single most therapeutic activities that exist. It gives you the huge emotional release you need while also helping you to process your feelings and reflect on them any time you need to. You have quite a few options for choosing the right journaling method and medium.
You can buy a personal journal and write to yourself, or you can get involved in a journaling community. Do your writing whenever you feel overwhelmed with emotion, or you feel the need to express it.
Delay Your Responses
You’re likely to explode because of your sensitivity to other people’s words and actions. You must get a handle on that to get a handle on sensitivity. Practicing silence can help you get into the groove of staying calm. Delay your reaction when someone offends you for as long as possible.
You might find during your waiting process that it was best for you not to say anything at all. Try this practice and see if it helps. It can teach you lessons about patience and kindness others.
Reflect and Analyze
To be less sensitive, you will have to examine the things that people say to you. You have to analyze what such people said and why it offended you. You may have to question yourself so that you can explain or write the appropriate answer. Once you bring to the forefront things that you are most sensitive to, you can work on a strategy to improve.
Pinpoint Your Triggers and Work Around Them
Psych Central says that every highly sensitive person has one or two triggers. A trigger is something that causes a huge emotional reaction in you. Once you know what your triggers are, you can work on strategies to diminish their effect on you. That part may take a great deal of analysis and self-exploration.
Focus on the Positive
You’ve probably heard someone tell you at one time or another that you should focus on the positive. That’s true. There’s an upper for every downer. There’s something good for everything in your life you feel is terrible.
Focus on good things when you start to feel down. It’s easy for sensitive people to get distracted by the negative because they’re so sensitive, but you can counter that by filling your mind with a lot of positivity. The sunshine, the flowers, the clouds and the fresh air are things you can take time out to enjoy.
Take a Mini-Trip
A trip is always a fantastic way to clear your mind and rid yourself of the worries of the world. You can take a trip anyplace in the world if you can afford it. Go on a camping trip and live modestly for a weekend.
You could rent a log cabin in the woods. If that’s not your style, then you could spend time at a beach in Bermuda. It’s up to you. The main point is that you find somewhere to go that totally changes the scenery for you. That will give your mind the break it needs for the everyday woes of life.
Exercise
One of the best things you can do for yourself if you’re overly sensitive is exercise regularly. You’ll feel good about yourself when you see the results. You will also regulate your mood because of the hormones and chemicals that regular exercise releases.
You’ll get a pleasurable result from how the endorphins, serotonin and dopamine mix it up inside your body after you get your heart pumping strong. You won’t worry about a thing. Everything will be just fine as far as you’re concerned. You can get the maximum out of exercise by doing it once every other day for 20 to 30 minutes. Your session doesn’t have to be long. It just has to get the heart pumping enough to burn fat and release chemicals.
Engage in Art
Developing your artistic side is another way to grab hold of your sensitivity and use it or something positive. One thing about sensitive people is that they are in touch with their creativity. You can harness all the emotions you feel and create a powerful piece of art in any form. It doesn’t matter whether you paint, write, sing or do something else. What you’ll release will be breathtaking and effective.
Conclusion
Now you know a wee bit more about sensitive people and their uniqueness. You know that you are someone special who has to learn to tame the sensitivity reactions and use all of them for positive purposes. You should find that you are more content these days because you have learned to master techniques.
About the Author: Rebecca is an author, entrepreneur and most of all a wife and mother of 2. What she enjoys the most is helping normal people reach their full potential. Rebecca uses her ever growing skills in writing to inspire people and not settle for a normal life. As an entrepreneur, she has no shortage of failures and that is why Rebecca is the ideal person to talk about this.
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