Highly Sensitive People: Superpower vs. Burden

I’ve always felt out of place. As if no one quite understood me and the things I would see or say were misunderstood. Almost to the point of feeling like they didn’t believe me. I could sense it because I observed their behavior and noticed a change in their tone. It was subtle, but it was there. So many times when I wondered why. Why is the world the way that it is? The universe is such a mystery filled with wonder.

• You’re in a room, two people are conversing and you notice a slight undertone in Person B. You can tell they are being a sarcastic cruel twerp in response to what person A had to say. Only, Person A didn’t notice because Person B was so subtle and added in huge laughter and smiles. But you noticed.

• You’re driving down the road in the left lane. There is Person A in front of you and there is Person B next to Person A, only they are in the blind spot of Person A. You notice that Person A has been pre-occupied with changing the radio, fidgeting with their hair, and trying to pick something up on the floor that they dropped. You can already sense they are going to switch into the right lane without even seeing Person B in their blind spot. Low & behold, Person A quickly signals and without looking veers into the right lane hitting Person B.

You’re jumpy, you think deeply, you have a tendency to withdraw.

You don’t like change, you’re easily overwhelmed, you get hangry.

You’re empathetic, you perceive the world differently, you’re detail oriented, you pursue things that have meaning.

These are all traits of a Highly Sensitive Person…and they only begin to scratch the surface of many more traits that are identified with HSP’s.

For years I wondered: What’s wrong with me. To be honest, nothing. Nothing is wrong with me, I’m different. Highly sensitive people are often misdiagnosed with generalized anxiety disorders, ADHD, depression, and more. I’m sure you can see why too! HSP’s often overlap into having traits that are associated with each of the above “disorders”.

So many times where I have found myself in situations where I was overwhelmed and overstimulated. I don't like to be in a crowded room for too long. I used to think this was because I was an introvert.

Sudden change and certain noises give me anxiety. I thought I had generalized anxiety disorder.

Multitasking can be both exhilarating and troublesome depending on the tasks at hand. Low frustration tolerance, hot temper, trouble coping with stress. I also thought I was ADHD.

I have been putting off going to the doctor because I thought something didn't feel right. Trusting my intuition is important to me so I kept searching for answers.

Being a Highly Sensitive Person is NOT a disorder. You are born with these traits. It isn’t something that develops, while I do believe that some of the traits can get better or worse. However, that 2000% has to do with your environment and knowing how to use your traits as superpowers instead of burdens. I’ll say that again.

Use your traits as SUPERPOWERS not Burdens.

I can sense when tension is building in a situation, place of business, group setting, etc before other people. Superpower.

I often play Devil's Advocate before making a decision. Superpower.

HSP's are creative thinkers. Sometimes my ideas are completely ridiculous and sometimes they are quite genius and completely out of the box. Superpower.

...and the list goes on.

I discovered Julie Bjelland from another podcast that I listen too. It’s as if the universe aligned and in my moment of need and I realized I’m an HSP. I immediately hopped onto her website and took her sensitivity quiz to see where I fell on the spectrum of this trait. Though, I could already tell from the questions that I was likely going to hit a 100% LOL. Ok, so maybe it wasn’t a 100%…but If you scored a 30 or higher, you may have the trait of high sensitivity. If you score 38 or higher you may be an HSP Empath. Guess who scored a 38? Yeah, me. But due to this trait, I technically scored a 37 because I clicked and un-clicked one of the questions because I was being SO indecisive.

What are you waiting for? Take the quiz!

Be on the lookout for more articles from me on HSP. Now that I have figured out a name for my traits…. I am on a whole new self discovery on educating myself and others. I want more people with these traits to understand that they are AWESOME. Yes, these traits CAN be a burden if you let them. But if you know how to control them you can use them as your superpower. So! Where do you fall on the spectrum? I’d love to hear your score, email me [email protected]

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