1. They don’t lead with their emotion
If you have ever heard the word sensitive used by others as a description of you, you probably go through life with you emotions guiding you. To be more specific your heart is your GPS in life. Whatever you brain says, you forgo it for something better you heart recently shouted to your brain. It’s a high probability that you cry during hallmark movies, at weddings on TV and when others are upset, you feel it as though it is your own heart breaking.
That is, especially when it is someone you care about. For as many people out there that lead with their emotions, there are just as many that use their guidance tools. Some use their intuitive, whatever the gut feeling is or vibes they get from a situation is the cues they use to lead on a day to day basis. Some use logic, the brain to those is the way to go. If you thought about it in a fact based way, this is the outcome you would get and therefore this is how you should feel and act.
No one is wrong in the way they flow through life, we all see it differently. That being said, if someone is calling you sensitive or the dreaded “overly sensitive” they most likely are traveling through this world with a different navigator then you, leading them to perhaps at times put judgement on you because they don’t understand how you could possibly have a different experience. There are many people in the world, and as we encounter each other it becomes clear that we are not the same.
It is in fact the most beautiful realization that we can have about one another. That is as long as we can view others differences as their unique make up, and choose to love them for who they are. We are all out here trying our bests every day. So before judging someone remember they are trying their best to understand you. Show them the same kindness.
2. It is easier to avoid their feelings
Have you ever gotten in to a fight with someone and their major comeback is the “you are just sensitive”. They throw it at you, and like a ticking time bomb it sits with you in the back of your brain. It waits for you to calm down and be quiet and just when you do it explodes and starts the hurt all over.
For as long as you have known them, they have known this about you. As someone who leads with your emotions, it isn’t something that is not hidden easily. They like you or even love you for it, for the most part, but unfortunately it is your biggest Achilles Heel. So when you are blubbering about your feelings, how they made you feel and they just stand there looking at you like Kyle XY when the audience realized he didn’t have a belly button.
You are simply making them uncomfortable. They don’t like to think about their emotions for too long and they certainly cannot process how many feelings you just had in a 15 minute argument or conversation if they don’t want to deal with theirs. For most, avoiding feelings is easier, it isn’t something they have to think about. It is unfortunately very easy to take that you are someone emotional and use it to their advantage. Being called overly sensitive is just the thing that someone emotional will get upset about and feel like something is wrong with them. Ever called a logical person to logical?
They couldn’t care less. They probably put it on their resume as a special qualification. Having a lot of feelings is not something to be ashamed of, be proud of you are. Just remember that not everyone will appreciate that about you or will only appreciate you for it while it benefits them.
3. They make fun of what they don’t have
It is extremely easy to make fun of things and people as a way to hide how we truly feel about them. Meeting people, which say something mean about someone in a joke, is a clear sign that that person had those real feelings. No matter how funny the joke about the girl wearing the dress that looked too small for her or “wasn’t right for her body type is”, the people that usually make those jokes feel insecure about their bodies and use the same self talk when they get dressed and look in the mirror.
When someone makes fun of you or says that you are sensitive as an insult, it is a reflection on them. Calling you sensitive means that when they start to feel emotional about something, they call themselves sensitive and tell themselves no to act such a way and suck it up. While you intimately feel when other people say they love you and tell you how proud they are of you, others walk away from those words or act like they don’t want to hear them, enforcing their inner dialogue that being sensitive is not something that want to be known as.
Judging someone or somebodies actions is an easy thing to do. If you have ever been called sensitive and felt hurt by it, remember that this isn’t a negative quality about you. Take that moment to learn and do better by not reacting to hurt others. Simply say thank you and continue to be you, because people will love you.
By Kara Anne