When I was little, my sister and I used to get into petty arguments only to result in me telling her, "you don't understand how much your words hurt me sometimes."
This, of course, resulted in a fit of laughter from her, and even more emotional turmoil from me. I may have gotten older, but I have remained that sensitive little potato for my entire life. Living life as a sensitive human is not easy. Here are some of the ways that being someone who feels all the feelings can be a bit of a rough deal.
1. Crying over everything, at any given time.
As I'm typing this, I've literally just now stopped crying. The tears in question were caused by a video of a pug in a swimming pool. Dog videos aren't the only culprits for my multitude of crying jags. The offenders also include videos of soldiers returning home to their families, anything that includes children, and old couples talking about love. To be honest, being an extra sensitive human means that any topic is fair game for tears. Observing a stranger commit a random act of kindness, seeing a nice sunset, or making it to work early can all cause you to well up.
2. Other peoples' emotions make you way too emotional.
Nothing makes you more emotional than the emotions of your friends. If someone in your life has found love and is starting to date someone they really like, you will cry all of your happy tears. On the other hand, God forbid that someone hurts a fellow human that is close to your heart. The struggles of your pals, from breakups to family problems, will make you more emotional than anything ever should. This emotional response might cause some people to think of you as an emotional thunder-stealer. You promise you're not attempting to take the attention away from your situation, you just have a lot of feelings.
3. You spend way too much of your time worrying if something you said has made someone upset.
People make comments all the time, completely meant in jest, that wind up really hurting you later on. Due to this fact, you constantly worry that something you've said has hurt someone emotionally. It's not an uncommon occurrence for you to stay up for hours, going through a conversation you had that day and making sure you didn't say anything off-color. If you actually did wind up upsetting someone with your words, you will never let yourself off the hook for it.
4. There's a chance you come on too strong in relationships.
Being a very sensitive person means you know exactly how you're feeling at all times. This includes your romantic feelings towards whomever you're seeing. If you start really really liking someone after two dates, you have to fight the urge to let them know every little thing that led you to this conclusion. Succumb to your emotions, and you could risk them dumping you (and calling the cops, but it's fine.) Once you start dating, you're gonna want to let them know all of your feelings all the time. If they aren't equally as sensitive, it'll be a disaster. If they are equally sensitive, it might still turn out badly because then you'll be competing for emotional airtime.
5. You're super in touch with your moods, and this includes the bad ones.
When you're in a good mood, you want everyone to know all about the rainbows and butterflies in your life. When you're in a bad mood... look out. Because you feel emotion to such a deep extent, emotions like anger, resentment, jealousy and frustration can feel extremely intense to you. In addition, little things can really throw you over the edge when you're like this. A subtle snub from a friend, or being passed up for a project at work, can cause you to flip out to the highest degree. This, unfortunately, ultimately ends in more tears.
6. Forget about watching movies. Literally ever.
If I had a dime for every time I cried while watching a movie that isn't in the tear-jerking genre, I would be able to pay for my tuition in full. Real talk, it is not an easy thing to make it through a movie emotionally unscathed. Dog deaths in action movies, emotional one-liners in horror films, and any movie containing anything resembling romance are all guaranteed to send you to Sadville. There's something about the human experience expressed through film that makes you feel all of your feelings. You will definitely get made fun of for crying your way through The Purge but keep pushing forward.
7. Being labeled as "too sensitive" can make you feel really belittled, even if it's ultimately true.
No one wants to be told that their feelings aren't valid, and yet the label of being "too sensitive" does just that. It seriously sucks to be told that your emotions are invalid because you experience them too intensely. People will be quick to call you crazy and say you take things too seriously, all because you are more in touch with the feelings side of your life.
Life as an extra sensitive human can sometimes feel like driving the struggle bus. However, keep in mind that a perceived weakness can also be seen as your greatest strength. Being in tune with the emotions and feelings of yourself and others is something with immense value. You are the first person called when someone you love is having emotional problems, and you should be so proud of that. Keep doing you, feelings and all.
