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Where Is She Now?
North Carolina
Sensitivity Rocks!
One of the refrains of my childhood was, you’re so sensitive!
It was not a compliment!
Those of us who count sensitivity among our traits, and yes, our assets, can find ourselves in the midst of people who either don’t share that particular ability, or see it as an irritant or an obstacle.
Happily, as an adult, I have been able to change my perspective and hear this statement (which I continue to hear, btw!) in a different way.
Here’s the truth:
Sensitivity rocks!
I’m not sure if sensitivity is inborn, or if it develops as a way to cope in a volatile and sometimes dangerous environment, where hyper-vigilance is certainly an advantage, if not a necessity. I suspect we’ve all got access to sensitivity, and it’s just more in the forefront for some people.
Either way, I’ve got it! I pick up on little changes in other people’s moods, inflections in their voices, body language shifts. It’s not something I have to think about. It’s always there.
For those of us who have that going for us, it can sometimes be a challenge to manage it! We can be deluged with information from other people, and don’t always know what to do with it, especially when we’re feeling vulnerable ourselves.
And, because sensitivity can often be found in people who’ve come from a difficult childhood environment, the negative interpretation was often the more accurate one.
The good news is, we don’t live there anymore!
We live in the present. And we can choose to BE present to what is happening right now, and our reactions to it.
So, to really benefit from my sensitivity, what I’ve been able to do is separate my perceptions from my responses. And in doing that, it becomes a huge asset, and never a liability.
It is not the sensitivity that creates an issue for me – it is what I do with the information that my sensitivity brings me.
I can choose to interpret what I’m seeing or sensing in a positive way, or a negative way.
That’s right – we choose our thoughts. Always.
And we choose our responses to any kind of information.
Choosing to see something in the best possible light, to see the other person’s behavior in the best possible way, opens the door to all kinds of gifts.
It can shift a difficult situation, because you’ve believed the best.
And it can lighten the way for you as you move through your life.
Imagine, if everything that happens is for your good. What would the world feel like then? A lot friendlier, and full of awesome possibility!
Now I admit, I’m not always successful in stopping myself from going down that road of negative thinking! It’s a practice.
And as a result of deliberate practice, I am WAY better at it then I used to be.
It’s my clarity, and my presence to what is going on in the moment that allows me to do so.
So if you’ve been labeled a sensitive person, CELEBRATE it! You’ve got access to information about other people and the environment that not everybody senses.
Work with it instead, alchemizing it into a rejoicing in your heightened awareness, with the knowledge that you have the ability to choose how you respond.
Cuz that choice, that’s where the real jewel of your great asset of sensitivity lies!
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