“You’re too sensitive,” these words followed me for a good portion of my life. It is something I have heard from many people (parents, siblings, people I have dated, friends) time and time again. It’s a statement I used to negatively define myself by.
It all goes back to when I was a kid. I was a sensitive child. I cried a lot especially when I couldn’t handle any emotion that I was feeling and to be honest, for a long time, I thought this was a bad thing.
The interesting thing was I cried when I was happy or sad. Even when other people cried, I would to. When Oprah was on TV, she would have me crying at least weekly. Extreme Makeover, Home Edition – yup that one too!
First, why do people write off the emotional one?
Many people believe that being emotional is BAD. They are afraid of being seen as “weak”. There is the stereotype that men shouldn’t cry or that women need to be “stronger”. I truly believe that people are afraid of being vulnerable because it’s scary. When you show your true emotions, especially the ones that are unexpected, you have no idea what the other person is going to do or say. It doesn’t feel safe. We are afraid of what others are going to say about us. We want to be accepted – it’s a natural thing that we all want for ourselves.
When someone is emotional, and if we are not comfortable with it, we want to run away. Great example – funerals. I have heard many times how people don’t like going to funerals. First off, who does? But secondly, it can be uncomfortable to be around people who are emotional. We don’t know what to say or how to support them.
So why am I telling you this?
It took me many years to realize that my sensitive or emotional side is actually one of my super powers (if I was to have one!).
Being a chiropractor, I have the blessing of being apart of so many amazing peoples lives. It is an absolute honour and I do not take it lightly. With each new person that welcomes me into his or her life, I get the opportunity to be present during some highs and lows of a persons life. It is not uncommon to have at least someone cry or get emotional every day. I have the capability to pick up on emotional cues that people are sharing and help them through these feelings, whether it be through just listening, a hug or some suggestions.
It took me a lot of “inside work” to realize that this is my strength and being emotional is not bad. There is nothing wrong with me. This is one of my strengths (or intelligences) that I can use to help serve people, especially through their hardest times.
So, Dr. Sarah, what the heck is the lesson here?
People come in all forms. We all have something to bring to the table and its time to stop measuring our (and our children’s) intelligence based on the typical forms.
There are many different types of intelligence. This diagram shows a great synopsis.
Picture taken from: http://fundersandfounders.com/9-types-of-intelligence/
As a community…we need to stop basing our intelligence on the typical logical/mathematical sense that is ingrained into students at a young age. I think this is particularly important when it comes to our children. Being aware of multiple types of intelligence can help us raise our children to be more well-rounded and help them to feel accepted, loved and surrounded by support.
It also should be noted, that you can be strong in more than one area.
So, where would you place yourselves in the 9 types of intelligence and what is your superpower?
To learn more visit: http://fundersandfounders.com/9-types-of-intelligence/
Dr. Sarah Green