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Highly Sensitive People - Traits and Characteristics by
Rose Smith Everyone
else falls somewhere in between, with the odd few being completely
unemotional about anything. (By the way - 20% of the entire animal
kingdom is highly-sensitive as well). However,
we're the ones that help to temper the not-so-sensitive types, the ones
who can be bold, rash and impulsive and may have not thought things
through to the consequences of their actions. Highly
sensitive people are most often the people found in the roles of
advisors, counselors and advocators for restraint. We're
considered "too sensitive, too cautious, too shy, too timid, too
introverted, too fearful." What needs to be realized is that these are
not "problems" that need to be corrected and fixed with sensitive
people. It's
the labels that are attached to us that cause the problems. Many
non-sensitive people are also shy, timid, introverted and fearful,
while there are many highly sensitive people who are out-going,
super-friendly, extroverted, and risk-takers. We
just tend to think things through first and weigh all the factors that
our senses pick up on before forging ahead. Sometimes,
what's mistaken as shyness is actually a sizing up of the situation and
the people that we have just met. We're
cautious. If our senses are saying something isn't right about the
person, we won't be so open to them. First
impressions count. It's not just the way the person is dressed, but
their whole demeanor, aura, attitude and other little subtleties that
we absorb with all of our senses. We
process the thoughts, feelings and sensations that we receive in each
new situation. This may make some of us appear "shy", when we're not. Don't
mistake deep-thinking and inner-reflection as introversion. We do
require much more alone time. This is because our nervous systems can
go into over-load in a situation that a non-sensitive person would find
somewhat stimulating. If we
become frazzled and over-stimulated, we need to find a quiet spot as
soon as possible to settle back down. This is why many HSP's tend to
stay at home more often than not, rather than go out to party. It's
not that we don't want to... we just know our systems can't handle the
overload for too long a time. If we can't get away, we'll pull into
ourselves, as a sort of protective shield, to try to reduce the noise,
sights, sounds and smells that are bombarding us in order to calm down. This
is not an exclusive trait of sensitive people. New experiences often
cause butterflies, fearful thoughts and inner-turmoil in most people.
HSP's just tend to feel those emotions more deeply. Unfortunately
when there's too much activity and noise around us, we can't handle it
for a great length of time. For example, what may be a low to moderate
level of music for a non-sensitive person could sound like the level of
a rock concert to us. Emotionally,
we're affected by much of the disharmony in the world. We feel another
person's heartache, we are aware of low levels of anger or resentment
in a room, we empathize with other people's problems, and feel great
sorrow over horrific tragedies. Our
abilities can keep us from making disastrous business or personal
decisions, if we follow our instincts. And because of our deep sense of
the environment around us, we're often the ones that make others aware
of potential environmental problems that unscrupulous companies ignore
for their own benefits. HSP's
are often the ones that push for reforms and changes in government law
for the better good of everyone. True,
it doesn't hurt any less, but you know there are similar types that you
can seek out and talk to...and they'll understand. Yes, we do tend to
exhibit more of the above traits and characterisitcs than non-sensitive
people do, but we're not exclusive owners of them either. Sometimes,
it's a misinterpetation of what's really going on in the mind of an HSP
by non-HSP's. Only another highly sensitive person could really
understand. The good news is that highly sensitive people have been
around for as long as man has walked the earth... and we'll always be
here, working to make the world a more understanding, considerate and
peaceful haven for everyone. ~ ~ ~ related pages: intensity
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sensitivity GT
Adults giftedness ~ ~ ~ |
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