10 Ways Highly Sensitive People Have An Advantage
10 Ways Highly Sensitive People Use Sensitivities As An Advantage
by Nicole Taffs Hollingshead
It can take us years to figure out that we are highly sensitive people. The world doesn’t talk much about this type of person. There isn’t a lot of information out there on the topic. Even when discovering helpful information, we often have to be really suffering before profound and life-changing information can sink in deeply. There is no need for suffering through. We can learn how to turn our sensitivities to our advantage and live the life that we have always wanted.
Being highly sensitive doesn’t just mean that our feelings get hurt very easily, though a majority of the population would define or explain highly sensitive people that way. It does mean that sensitive people experience emotion on a very deep level, with more intensity than the average person. Not just negative emotions such as sadness or anger, but also amazing emotions like joy and happiness. We don’t just experience emotion as a state of mind either. We feel specific emotions in specific parts of our bodies. For instance, anger can feel like a tight knot in our solar plexus. Love can make our chest open up like a flower. Feeling scared can make our root chakra constrict and close up. How’s that for sensitive? It can definitely be overwhelming at times. Not only is emotion felt more intensely as a highly sensitive person, but the whole world is perceived and processed on a deeper level.
Going through the world as a highly sensitive person can be very challenging. Especially if we haven’t figured out that we are in fact a highly sensitive person. We might wonder why it seems that other people have an easier time than us. Or wonder why we seem to be more emotional than most. Perhaps we feel fatigued or overwhelmed by things that others are unaffected by. This world is not built for sensitive people. In fact, our world is designed perfectly for those who are detached. This is a problem for highly sensitive people.
Easily picking up other people’s emotions can be a major challenge for us. It is especially confusing for a sensitive child who is unaware of clairsentience and its attributes. It can even remain confusing for adults who know they are clairsentient but have not learned how to hold awareness of their emotions versus other’s.
Another challenge for us is how draining it can feel…all the time. Particularly after being around a lot of people or environments. We may be the type of person who needs to withdraw from everyone (including our children) on a regular basis, in order to recharge. Do you remember feeling tired or drained a lot as a teenager or young child? Parents of sensitive children are often unable to help because they do not understand the special needs of highly sensitive people. Do you ever wonder how your life would be different now if you were given helpful information about being highly sensitive when you were a child? There is no doubt that raising awareness of high sensitivity is beneficial for everyone. We can always remember that we are meant to go through our challenges. We can trust in the path we have taken and feel empowered knowing we are learning how to cope.
We are learning how to thrive. We can finally be turning our sensitivities into empowering life changing advantages. Really, it all comes down to this: Every highly sensitive person can use their sensitivities as an advantage in this world.
Guess what? Being highly sensitive means having access to more information than most other people! Approximately 15%-20% of the population are HSPs. In other words, we have a leg up. We have an advantage over others in many areas of our lives. Why wouldn’t we use this and take advantage of the situation? We certainly have to deal with all the negative side effects of being sensitive, effects that can range from annoying quirks to all-consuming phobias. It’s about time we start turning our sensitivities into assets. Using our traits and our emotions to create the exact life we were meant to live! Are you wondering what these advantages are?
10 Ways Highly Sensitive People Use Sensitivities
1. Being highly liked by most people because of our easy ability to be empathetic towards other’s emotional states, and being good listeners
2. Knowing right away whether new people in our lives are a good fit for us
3. Ability to easily sense when people are not being authentic, strong “phony” radar
4. Lean towards healthy foods/products because we have problems tolerating toxic substances
5. Understand relationships in our lives on a deeper level, ability to see the big picture easily
6. Access to higher creativity from being profoundly moved by music, nature, and art
7. Ability to inspire and influence others easily by our experiencing emotions (such as happiness, joy, peace, excitement, etc.) so intensely that it is felt by others
8. Strong intuition for knowing the right decision to make in new situations or opportunities/circumstances
9. Entering a room, building, or environment and knowing whether it is a positive place to be
10. Ability to feel bodily sensations and functions easily and can take action quickly when something is wrong, know the body intimately
These are just a few of the advantages we can come to enjoy from being a highly sensitive person. They, along with many others, literally help us shape and create the life we want to live. It’s important to note that these sensitivities may not always be assets in the beginning. There is often a steep learning curve when discovering how to turn sensitivities into advantages. And that’s okay. We all at times allow our circumstances to control us and inhibit or impede our progress. But we don’t have to suffer for years before learning how to use these traits to create our best possible selves. We can fast track. We can listen to our sensitivities and create the life we were meant to live.
You will also enjoy The 5 Quickest Ways To Boost Your Self-Esteem
About the Author
Nicole Taffs Hollingshead is certified in holistic nutrition, reflexology, and reiki, and authors The Sensitive Life blog to share knowledge to turn sensitivities into advantages. Connect with Nicole at: http://thesensitivelife.ca/. Follow on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/nicoletaffs12, and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Sensitive-Life-974235825982449/?ref=ay…
