HSPs UNITE! It’s Time For Us To Elevate & Uplift the World!
Let’s start a movement. What kind, you ask? The kind where we come together in love and peace and prosperity for the sake of sanity—and the sake of learning that we are not only the most loving, but the most powerful. For the sake of all of us. Each and every one.
I grew up believing the message that came through loud and clear: I was much too intense for comfort and much too sensitive for my own good. Whatever that meant.
I learned early on that the more you felt, the more you gave, the more you trusted, the more you loved freely, and the more you shared, the more compassion/empathy/sympathy you had, the weaker you became. That I had to be strong. I had to do it right. I couldn’t trust anyone to help me. I needed to protect myself from the Big Bad World or I’d be disappointed, hurt, disillusioned, in trouble.
But what if, as I posited in my last post, the very things that people told us made us “less than,” are really the exact qualities that make us so awesome as HSPs? Let’s break a couple of these directives down.
- “The more you feel, the more you get hurt.” Since I felt everything about a thousand times more than anyone else seemed to, and it seemed to cause me so much pain, this was an easy one to absorb. The only place I was allowed to really express myself was through music, an acceptable outlet. But only if and when appropriate. Certainly when I’d break down and cry at every lesson as my teacher tried to hammer rhythms and techniques into my head. Certainly not when it was time for auditions, when you had to remain calm at all costs. Imagine playing the flute when you’re shaking like a leaf and you’re sweating so much that the instrument slides off your chin!
- “You have to do it right.” In my family, there was a “right way and a wrong way.” It was that clear cut and simple. The problem was you never really knew what the right way was until you’d done something wrong and caught hell for it. I’m not talking about moral issues here, necessarily. I mean, it helps when your parents teach you how to be kind and honest. But when it comes to feelings, there’s a definite battle between what you feel and how you feel and what you’re told you’re supposed to feel. When you are told that what you feel is “silly,” that’s a signal that it’s wrong, it doesn’t matter, and you’d better tamp that feeling down fast…or else!
- “You have to be strong. Feelings are weak. The way you feel is silly.” I don’t know about you, but in my family, although there was a lot of loving intention, the messages that came across were mixed at best. I learned early on that what I felt didn’t count because it wasn’t valid, which translated into a life of not trusting myself in the single way that’s the most important: how I feel. Because the way you feel is basically the ONLY thing you can trust.
Okay, that’s the yucky stuff out of the way. Now let’s get to the nitty-gritty. If none of these tenets are true, and the only real way we know who we really are is to trust ourselves and our highest self, our core, our nature, how do we learn to get from HSP (Highly Sensitive and Pathetic) to HSP (Highly Sensitive and EmPowered)?
We’ll be going into how to get there in lots of detail over time, but for now I’ll leave you with one tip that will help you get started.
Begin by flipping all the things you’ve told yourself about who and what you are. Here are a few examples.
- I’m too sensitive becomes My sensitivity gives me access to information others don’t have.
- Sensitivity makes me weak becomes Sensitivity is my greatest strength (even if I don’t know how yet).
- The way I feel is wrong becomes I think it’s time to learn a whole new way of experiencing my feelings so the experience feels good.
Remember, this is just the beginning. Reuniting with who you really are puts you on the path to passionate, prepared, plucky, and powerful!
So, join me, all you HSPs out there. Share your glory and UNITE!!!!!!!!!
