When you’re an HSP, you can hide or seek–or just plain BE!!<\/h1>\n

It’s your choice.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Last night I was hanging out with a few new-ish friends. Turns out all of them are high-sensitives. When one of us told the story about how he needed 10 times the anesthesia most people need before he could have the procedure he\u2019d just undergone, all of us chimed in, exclaiming we\u2019d all had the same experience. \u201cAt the dentist I need 3 shots of Novocain instead of one,\u201d I said (poor me). \u201cYou do, too?\u201d asked another. \u201cIt takes so much to make me numb, but without it I\u2019m a basket case\u201d (poor me).<\/p>\n

While this may surprise you, what I\u2019ve discovered is that there are two basic paths those of us who are highly sensitive<\/a> take:<\/p>\n

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• We back off from life and avoid everything we possibly can if it feels uncomfortable.<\/li>\n
• We pretend we\u2019re not who we are and we don\u2019t feel the way we feel so as to appear as \u201cnormal\u201d as possible.<\/li>\n
• We complain a lot so we can receive the understanding and compassion we believe we need.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

  Struggling with it, dealing with it, or becoming who we are with it all.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

  We develop defense mechanisms over our lives that enable us to have relationships, hold down jobs, and deal with the world at large. The problem (the opportunity!) is that in discovering ways that avoiding and pretending keeps us safe, we end up in the same place: feeling disconnected from self and others.<\/p>\n

  Some of us drink. Some of us deflect with humor. Some of us complain and whine about how much pain we\u2019re in\u2026how no one understands how hard it is to be us. How people need to accommodate our sensitivities.<\/p>\n