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Did you cry often as a child? Were you shamed or belittled for getting upset over things others considered trivial? If so, you may be highly sensitive. Some highly sensitive people’s emotional needs were not met in childhood, beginning as early as infancy.
Sensitivity does not make a person weak, or immature. In fact highly sensitive people can be the most sincere, endearing, kind, and empathetic people. Sensitivity is something that can be beautiful. However, you may want to work on building your tolerance for challenges. You just have to be patient with yourself. Use the following tips to help embrace your sensitive self.
Accept Yourself For Who You Are
You are sensitive. You can go to therapy, develop better coping skills, and learn how to take criticism, however your sensitivity will still be there and that is okay. It is a special part of you that makes you who you are. So, you can use your sensitivity to create great works of art, theatre, writing, and to care for other people in need. A sensitive person is a diamond in the rough world of cold hearts, unapologetic douchebags and apathetic people. It takes bravery and courage to show vulnerabiltity to others. It is a beautiful part of you that should be embraced and cherished.
Find & Understand Your Triggers
You will have to go through your past in therapy or through journaling. Start with your childhood and ask yourself; “What happened to you?” “Why did it happen?” What patterns did you take on from your upbringing?” “What coping skills have you learned to deal with issues?” “Were your parents emotional unavailable?” “Were your feelings validated?”
Then, analyze your daily interactions with people, especially those moments where you feel you are being too sensitive. Ask these questions: “What happened?” “What did you do?” “What did the other person do?” “How are you feeling?” “Why did this trigger you?” “Do you know why you are feeling this way?” Asking yourself these questions on a consistent basis gives you a chance to self-reflect and go over your behavior patterns and emotional triggers. You can begin to name your feelings, and why you feel a certain way in a situation.
Validate Your Own Feelings
Your feelings were probably not validated as a child, teen, or even as a young adult. If your feelings are not validated, you will mistrust your feelings all the time. You were not allowed to express your feelings in the past. This causes confusion for you, so you begin to have anxiety and fight or flight in scenarios when most people would be perfectly fine.
Your current feelings are valid. Acknowledge how you feel, do not suppress or ignore the feeling, this does not lead to growth. Once you can acknowledge and validate your own feelings regularly, then your strong emotions and anxiety will begin to subside. You will now be able to handle even bigger situations with more maturity. This takes time, months, even years. Do not beat yourself up every time you overeact. Just go back over the moment and self-reflect to help you in the future.
Validate the Feelings of Others
Sensitive people generally have more empathy for other people. Most of the population will ignore, devalue, or put down the feelings of others. If you take the time to validate someone else’s feelings, you will feel better too. You may not understand this person’s feelings in that moment, listen to their feelings anyway. Furthermore, listen to this person the way you wish others would have listened to you when you were upset. If you take the time to understand others, people just might try to understand you a bit better too.
Conclusion
In conclusion, being sensitive has its’ ups and downs, but embracing your sensitivity as well as the sensitivity of others can make you a more well-rounded human being. We forget that at the end of the day we are all human and showing emotion is what makes us HUMAN. Devloping your coping skills can help you express emotions in the healthiest way possible. In order to know what coping skills you need to use, you have to name and feel your emotions consistently.
Sensitivity tells you if you are regulated or not, just like the nerves in your body tell you when something hurts. You would not ignore a throbbing pain in your side, so why do you ignore your emotions. Accept yourself for who you are, find and understand your triggers, validate your own feelings, and the feelings of others to embrace your sensitive nature.
Hope this helps,
Dominique Duarte
https://www.bydominiqueduarte.com/how-to-encourage-yourself/
Are you sensitive? Why or why not? Comment below