I’m the girl who cries at every movie she sees. Every. Single. One. You know the girl sniffling in the back row who everyone stares at? Yep, that’s me. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been told I “cry too much” (as if there even is such a thing) or that I take things “too personally.” (Who doesn’t?) Apparently, though, I’m not like others in this sense. I’m emotional. Very emotional. I’ve come to terms with my emotionality, and I’m always the first to ask for the tissues. That being said, for a long time, any time someone would call me the s-word, I’d freeze. What did you just call me? For whatever reason, I had some faulty association—and I’m beginning to think it’s not just me—between the words "sensitive" and "weak." So, any time someone would deem me "sensitive," I’d shoot them a death stare. Sensitive? Who wantsto be sensitive? It wasn't until recently that I started viewing my sensitivity as a positive thing—not something to deny, to run away from. Once I began to accept that I am a sensitive person, no judgment, I started seeing all the positive attributes that come with my sensitivity. While there are undoubtedly more than seven pros of being sensitive, these are some that ring true for me. What do youlike about being sensitive?
1. We pay great attention to detail
Highly sensitive people are often also highly attuned to details. This allows us to pick up on things that others might miss—subtleties or changes in environments, people, and things. Our focus on detail also tends to lend itself to an emphasis on organization. As such, sensitive people may be organized and detailed and, as a result, make good candidates for jobs that require these skills.
2. We are strong in our levels of awareness and perception
Much in the same vein, we are also very aware and perceptive. After all, paying attention to detail requires heightened awareness and perception. Everyone thinks of sensitivity in terms of emotions, but people can also be sensitive when it comes to something like sensations as well. For instance, highly sensitive people may see colors more brightly, hear things more clearly, and—you guessed it—feel things more deeply. Awareness and perception are both key elements of the next thing on this list…
3. We reflect… a lot
Sensitive people are great at self-reflection. While this can sometimes work against us, we possess the useful ability to look inwards and address our own role in a situation. More often than not, this allows us to adjust our actions, thoughts, and beliefs—our ways of being. Not only are we good at reflecting on ourselves, but we also take the time to reflect on those around us. We may also, then, be great problem-solvers.
4. We always try our best
If you’re anything like me, you put your everything into anything. People who are highly sensitive are typically achievement-oriented in every way possible. We want to be good friends, good sons and daughters, good students, good wives and husbands, good people. Sometimes, this desire to be good at everything can overwhelm us. That aside, however, this pushes us to try our best in every endeavor we try, every relationship we have, and every area of our life.
5. We are conscientious
It makes sense, then, that we are also conscientious. We try to do what is right. We have strong moral compasses which we try to honor. Due to their desire to achieve, highly sensitive people also work hard; we work to perform our jobs to the best of our abilities. For this reason, we also usually maintain a strong sense of responsibility.
6. We feel with others
Perhaps one of the largest assets of being a highly sensitive person is our ability to feel with others. We take on the emotions of others (hence the crying in movie theaters) and truly feel with the other person. When our friends are sad, we may become sad, too. When we see someone we love in pain, we share that pain and go to whatever lengths possible to help alleviate our loved one’s suffering. Though at times this may instigate more pain, it also encourages us to feel the happiness and excitement of our loved ones.
7. We feel deeply
All in all, then, we—highly sensitive people, that is—feel and feel hard. Some may consider this level of sensitivity to be a curse, for it easily prompts "the feels." I used to be one of those people; I hated being sensitive. I’m trying now, though, to see my sensitivity as a blessing, as something that enables me to get closer with others, to be in touch with my emotions, and, most importantly, to be myself—honestly and unapologetically.
