Have you ever been accused of being over sensitive?
I am frequently.
And, I’ve wondered: Am I? If so, where did my oversensitivity come from?
And, is it necessarily a bad thing?
Okay. I’m ready. I admit I am highly sensitive. Note: I didn’t say over sensitive.
Is that bad? Yes and no.
No, because as a coach and teacher my sensitive nature allows me to tune into the emotional
undercurrents. To help clients identify feelings they may be unaware of. This helps get a the real issues.
It’s bad in that I pick up negative emotions very easily. For example, after
spending 30 minutes with a very anxious client (face to face in a small office)
I began to feel severe myalgia. As soon as I realized my pain was caused by her
anxiety I was able to put up a bit of ‘shield’ and carry out. Then after the
meeting I went for a walk to shake out the negative feelings.
I need to pay particular attention to sudden shifts in feeling. For example, if
I feel good or only slightly in pain and then suddenly my myalgia
escalates or come on, I’ve learned to look around and see if someone else is
feeling negative. 8 times out of 10 it’s the other person not me who is the
actual source of pain.
So, where did my sensitivity come from?
Check out the next post.
