Never apologize for being sensitive or emotional
It’s a sign that you have a big heart, and that you aren’t afraid to let others see it.
Showing your emotions is a sign of strength.
Brigette Nicole
- Highly sensitive people tend to get their feelings hurt easily.
- Their fear of failure may make them less likely to take risks, and their heightened emotions may cause relationship problems.
“…dream wider and experience deeper horizons and bliss. When you’re sensitive, you’re alive in every sense of this word in this wildly beautiful world. Sensitivity is your strength. Keep soaking in the light and spreading it to others.”
— Victoria Erickson
10 Ways to Deal With Emotional Sensitivity
- Journal it Daily! Write down your feelings.
- We are talking about taking time every day to explode your feelings onto a page.
- It’s a good idea to then rip up what you write, so that your unconscious mind feels safe to unload.
- The idea here is that your emotions release onto the page instead of onto others around you.
- Figure it out! What makes you sensitive?
- Self Love. Don’t be too hard on yourself.
- Get rid of the monkey chatter. Limit overthinking.
- PAUSE first. Think before you react.
- Ask?
- Challenge yourself and ask for feedback.
- Realize that it’s most likely not about you.
- Understand deeply that what people do is never a reflection of you and is always their perception of life.
- Cutting people out of your life doesn’t mean you dislike them.
- It means you respect yourself!
- Keep your attention in the present.
- Learning how to spot assumptions is alone very powerful.
- When we stop thinking we know everything, and begin to realise we might be seeing things wrong, we start to be less sensitive.
“They hear nearly every sound, notice every movement, and process the expression on every person’s face.
And that means that simply walking through a public space can be an assault on their senses.”
Andre Sólo
Why are my emotions so sensitive?
- Feeling heightened emotions or like you’re unable to control your emotions can come down to diet choices, genetics, or stress.
- It can also be due to an underlying health condition, such as depression or hormones.
- You might be able to savour pleasant stimuli intensely — a good meal, a wonderful song — on a deeper level.
- If you’re highly sensitive, you might be deeply bothered by violent movies or graphics.
- You might also be easily overwhelmed by a busy or noisy environment, such as a crowded mall or business conference.
- Your sensitivity can be a superpower.
“I am very sensitive to the interactions I have with people. Whether it’s a momentary glance in an elevator, or a deep philosophical conversation over dinner, or a brush-by in a café, I feel (sometimes exhaustingly) attuned and affected by the subtle exchanges that pass seemingly benignly between us as human ships. Being a sensitive empath is a beautiful thing as an artist, and it fosters a deep burning curiosity about why we do the things we do.”
Alanis Morissette
“Am I too sensitive to be in this world?”
“How do you ever explain the feelings of anxiety and paralyzing fear? I can’t answer those questions. It’s just a feeling of ‘Am I crazy? Am I too sensitive to be in this world?’ A feeling that the world is just too complicated for me right now, and I don’t feel like I belong here. But it passes, and fortunately today I feel blessed for all the good things in my life.”
Winona Ryder
There are many benefits of being a highly sensitive person:
- your sensitivity to others’ feelings might help you cultivate strong relationships.
- being very empathetic to others, fostering deeper connection
- being highly self-aware
- being observant when it comes to yourself and others
- profoundly appreciating pleasant stimuli, including food, fragrances, music, textures, and more
- being deeply moved by heart-warming and positive stories, books, and movies
- cultivating gratitude for the “little things” in life, in part because you notice and experience them keenly
- Learning to route your sensitivity toward something positive can be extremely helpful.
- Often, this starts with accepting your heightened perceptivity and reaching out for help if you need it.
“By some strange, unknown, inward urgency they are not really alive unless they are creating.”
“The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this: A human creature born abnormally, inhumanly sensitive. To them… a touch is a blow, a sound is a noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a friend is a lover, a lover is a god, and failure is death. Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to create, create, create — so that without the creating of music or poetry or books or buildings or something of meaning, their very breath is cut off… They must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown, inward urgency they are not really alive unless they are creating.”
Pearl Buck,
“Learning to thrive as a highly sensitive soul presents challenges. If you’re sensitive, you have likely accumulated years of training in trying to overcome the trait because you don’t ‘fit in’ with society. And yet being highly sensitive is a vital part of you. A first step toward thriving as a sensitive soul is to understand and accept your trait. Hear this now: There is absolutely nothing wrong with you. You are just different. As one of my clients says, being highly sensitive is both a gift and a responsibility.” HSP life coach Jenna Avery
“The highly sensitive person has an important mission…”
“The highly sensitive person has an important mission, which is to serve as a balance to the more aggressive behaviour of some of the non-HSPs who advocate a less than nurturing policy toward humans, animals, and Mother Nature.”
Ted Zeff
“They see the transparency behind walls people put up. They stand on the battlefield of life and expose their heart’s transparency, so others can finish the day with hope. They are the sensitive souls that understand that before they could be a light they first had to feel the burn.”
Shannon L. Alder
“High sensitivity is not a disease or a disorder. It’s not something that needs to be overcome or fixed.”
Jenn Granneman
“One of my favourite aspects of high sensitivity is finding wonder in the smallest of things.”
Cati Vanden Breul,
- Sources:
- Acevedo BP, et al. (2014) The highly sensitive brain: An fMRI study of sensory processing sensitivity and response to others’ emotions.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4086365/ - Aron EN. (1997). The highly sensitive person: How to thrive when the world overwhelms you. New York, NY: Kensington Publishing Corp.
No SPAM ever! Read the privacy policy