How to thrive as a HSP (highly sensitive person)

It’s all about intention and a willingness to grow

When I was a little girl my sisters (& my parents to a greater or lesser extent) would tease me for being too sensitive, not to be mean, just in the way that siblings do, all in jest. To be fair I was an easy target! I would cry at anything. Lassie was usually the main culprit (although in my defence it was always really sad) I’d cry at TV adverts, storybooks, sometimes I’d just cry for no reason. I didn’t know then what it was to be an empath or a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP). In fact it’s only in the last few years I came across that term, when a neighbour and good friend passed me a newspaper article on it. The problem is, nobody else knew either, all they and I knew then was that I was a cry baby and we were a lot harder in the 80’s! There was much less emphasis on not hurting people’s feelings or trying to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. It was more a stoic ‘just get on with it’ mentality.

So I buried it, at least I tried to for years but those kinds of feelings don’t bury so easily, they find their way out like a trickle of water through a tiny crack. Drip, drip, drip until, after a while the trickle becomes a raging torrent which will inevitably rise to the surface and then burst forth like the crazy river rapids i used to enjoy so much at Centre Parks as a teenager, well until my bikini top fell off in front of a life guard but that’s for another post.

As I’ve grown into my adult skin, I’ve worked long and hard to accept myself for who I am, and am currently the strongest I have ever been because of that work. Don’t get me wrong, there are times, many times when I revert to my default settings, when that early, 0-7 age programming from my childhood environment rears its head & tries to override the work and effort I’ve put in to my growth journey, usually triggered by an emotional family situation. The difference now (with the help of my highest self) is that I no longer bury it, I transmute it. All that negative energy, frustration & talking down to myself I can process much more quickly & at a higher energetic vibration, meaning it no longer lingers, it’s done & dealt with and I can much more quickly see it as the lesson & growth it was intended for. I’m very fortunate to have a support network around me of people who know the journey I am on, my sisters, husband & certain friends because they too are on their own growth journey & they are willing to challenge me, not with judgement but with kindness, grace and love.

So, how do you thrive rather than just survive as a HSP? You set the intention to grow from every experience that you have, even if that intention comes after the event. You are open and willing to learn. And you keep your vibration high so that when these triggers arise, you can see them for the lessons that they are. All leading you closer to your highest self.

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