Have you also hid yourself away to be “good enough” or blend in with the non-HSPs around you? HSPs are often teased for being too quiet and misunderstood for their sensitivity. To be accepted by family and friends, you mask your true nature and mold yourself to be what others want you to be. Showing up more fully takes time and involves unlearning those messages that you heard as a child or young adult. 

There’s a hidden magic to being highly sensitive that most people don’t understand. HSPs have more capacity for positive experiences than the average person. Being touched deeply and profoundly counteracts the difficult parts of being more impacted by stress and overwhelm. The path to bliss is actually just as short as the path to overwhelm! 

A highly sensitive person has more activity in parts of the brain that contribute to feelings of nostalgia. HSPs have a deep emotional connection to their memories and because we process information and experiences deeply, memories are more vivid and easier to recall. When you notice more subtle details, you’re able to pull up specific memories and the emotions that go along with them quickly.

Being highly sensitive isn’t just about being overwhelmed, you also feel deep joy, happiness, and excitement over the little details.  Are you suppressing your positive emotions to protect others? Is empathy getting in the way of being your true self?  

When you’re highly sensitive and feel everything deeply, it can be stressful and isolating.  Others may question or criticize you for your “overblown” reactions.  You then wander if you’re too emotional, fragile, or dramatic.  Although it can be a burden at times, feeling this emotional is an asset in many ways.

Being more attuned to the slightest changes happening around you as a highly sensitive person, it can be a shock to your nervous system to quickly go from the hot, long, sunny days of Summer to cold days of Winter with little sunlight. The colder months are a time to recharge, a time to reflect, but as you lean into slowing down, be careful not to completely power off.

Being highly sensitive, you get access to experiences others don't have such as deep joy in the little moments, positive emotions at a heightened level, and blissful experiences.  Trying to live life like a non-HSP blocks access to your deep thoughts and feelings, strong intuition, innovative ideas, abundant creativity, and healing empathy that only we can have. 

Throughout our lives many of us have been told that Sensitivity is a weakness or we have been labeled as fragile, anxious, shy or too emotional as a result of feeling deeply. The truth is being Highly Sensitive is a Strength with many advantages!