Whether we like it or not, we are born with a certain temperament.

No two persons are exactly alike. Generally, temperament is identified with personality components that are biological rather than learned. It’s a style of behavior, and it’s relatively consistent across situations and age spans.

We are all different in how we take in information through our five senses, how we react to the environment with certain levels of intensity and how we regulate our stress levels. Our temperament includes traits such as level of activity, adaptability, intensity, distractibility, sensory threshold (for example, what may be too loud for one person may be quiet too another) and mood.

When doing research for my first book, I came across a fascinating book titled The Highly Sensitive Person by Dr. Elaine Aron. Chances are if you read The Daily Love, you may exhibit some traits of a highly sensitive person or you have someone in your life close to you that is.

In Dr. Aron’s book, she discovers this trait to be true of 20 percent of the population.

According to Dr. Aron’s definition, the Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) has a sensitive nervous system, is aware of small things in his or her surroundings, more easily overwhelmed in a highly stimulating environment and has a difficult time managing stressful situations. Dr. Aron has a great self test on her website to see if you fit the description.

According to Dr. Argon, a Highly Sensitive person is:

-overstimulated easily

-extremely creative

-cautious—thinks before doing

-sensitive to loud noises, tight clothing, strong sense of smells and tastes, dislikes clutter and chaos

-needs order

-has a hard time saying no to others requests

-very empathetic to others, feel their pain, and try to help sometimes to a fault

-deep thinkers, soul searchers,

-are uncomfortable when things get out of control

-show concern and worry about a lot of things

-deep respect for music, nature and art

According to society’s standards, if we are “sensitive” something is wrong with us.

Nope. It’s a gift and I will show you why.

Some of the greatest achievers of our time carried this trait too. People like: Albert Einstein, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., Princess Diana, Mother Teresa, Walt Disney, Michael Jordan all exhibit characteristics of this trait. They were able to embrace and accept their temperaments and give back to the world in big ways. You can too!

Most HSPs are deep thinkers. HSPs process things more on an emotional level. (Hallmark commercials anyone? Maybe an inspirational YouTube Video gets you weepy?) Most are very intuitive. Many work in a creative field. The types of jobs HSPs hold are healers, therapists, priests, nuns, spiritual leaders, teachers, scientists and so forth.

But, to me, the most important characteristic, HSPs have a direct line to their unconscious and can get to the root of any blocks standing in the way of their life and most of all can be of service to others to help them remove their blocks.

Have you ever heard of chakras?

Our body is made up of a series of atoms that have positive and negative energy charges. According to ancient yoga tradition rooted in Hinduism and Buddhism, chakras are the energy points in the body located along the spine extending from the top of skull to the base of the spinal column. There are a total of seven, according to most textbooks and research.

Judith Anodea, author of Wheels of Life: A User’s Guide to the Chakra System, defines a chakra this way: “A chakra is believed to be a center of activity that receives, assimilates, and expresses life force energy.”

The seven chakras: root, sacral, solar plexus, heart, throat, third eye, and crown and they all reside at energy points in the body. The root chakra is located at the base of the spine at the coccyx bone and from there, going up the spine toward the head, the other chakras are located, ending at the crown chakra.

80 percent of the population develop the chakras as they grow up and mature from the root chakra, then the sacral chakra, solar plexus chakra, etc. (in that order) and then reaching the crown chakra as the final piece to spiritual awakening. The HSPs (the other 20%) develop in the opposite direction. HSPs are born with an acute intuitive sense of what is going on around them. Their crown chakras and third eye chakras are developed more at birth then their root chakras.

A HSPs nervous system is very sensitive to picking up the energy that is around, which means it can make you feel very vulnerable. So if someone is in a bad mood near you, you may feel their negative energy.

Or say, you are in a room with 30 loud, screaming children, you will feel that energy and definitely need a break from that overstimulation. You might feel emotionally and physically exhausted.

It helps to know this because in so you know you are not alone.

I am a Highly Sensitive Person and am a recovered anorexic. It makes total sense that I manifested an eating disorder as I didn’t feel safe in my own body.

When I changed my sensitivity from a liability to an asset, I recovered and now am able to serve people with healing their lives, whether it be an eating disorder or healing a divorce or finding purpose.

Use your sensitivity to your advantage to heal yourself and the world.

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Assist Ed: Dana Gornall/Ed: Sara Crolick