In this inspiring guest article, transformative writer Susanna Grinsvall shares why it is a privilege to be a highly sensitive person when it comes to the law of attraction.
Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
When I first found out that there’s a personality trait called ”Highly Sensitive Person (HSP)”, and that I have this trait, my immediate reaction was: ”Oh no! This sounds complicated…!”.
Being a highly sensitive person can indeed be complicated in some contexts. Especially before finding out about this trait. Learning about the trait can be incredibly liberating. To understand the tools we possess helps us to navigate in the world inside us and around us.
Here’s What You’ll Learn
- The Nervous System Is Wired Differently For HSPs
- Why The Nervous System Is Your Best Navigation System
- How The Human Mind Works
- Mind Your Focus!
- How The Law Of Attraction Interacts With You Through Your Focus
- Privileges Of The Highly Sensitive Person: The Intensity Of The HSP Trait Is A True Blessing!
- Conclusions
By the end of the article you might arrive at the same conclusion as I did: being highly sensitive is in fact a privilege.
The Nervous System Is Wired Differently For HSPs
What makes highly sensitive people ”different” from people with any other personality trait? It boils down to this: the nervous system is wired differently. It’s wired to process sensory stimuli and information (both from the outside world and from within) on a deeper level.
In reality, each individual is a one of a kind. Each individual has a unique level of sensitivity, which translates in a subjective reality. It’s more of a continuum than a category per se.
Sensitivity, in turn, equals awareness. You can only be aware of that which your nervous system can take in and process. Your nervous system is in constant communication with the rest of your body. It makes sure that the right information goes to the right places, so that your body can function optimally.
Head quarter to both the ”fight-or-flight” function (sympathetic nervous system) and the ”rest-and-digest” function (parasympathetic nervous system), your nervous system has you covered for all situations you will ever experience. Ultimately, the main responsibility of the nervous system is to make sure you stay alive.
If you want to learn more about the highly sensitive person trait, have a look at the book ‘The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You’.
Why The Nervous System Is Your Best Navigation System
But who wants to just stay alive? We want to thrive, right? While the main responsibility of the nervous system might be to make sure you stay alive, you also have your nervous system to thank for feeling alive. In short: the nervous system is what enables us to feel.
Now this is really interesting from a HSP point of view. Highly sensitive people feel everything intensely. Life presents itself to us more intensely than it does to most people – for better or worse. In a few moments we’ll have a look at the Law of Attraction. We’ll see why intensity can be an amazing ally and privilege to have when it comes to creating our own reality as a highly sensitive person. For now, let’s look at an everyday example that you probably can relate to.
You know how sometimes you are in the presence of somebody, and you intuitively know that person is not good for you? HSPs are typically more connected with their body and can immediately gain awareness of their body’s alerts. We can save a lot of time (and save ourselves from unnecessary struggles) by listening attentively to what our body’s telling us. Imagine if we had to rely on our mind only to decide whether somebody is trustworthy or not?
However, Western contemporary societies praise the mind and underestimate the wisdom of the body – and often berate feelings. Things need to be ”rational” to be valid. There’s one problem with this approach though: the mind can easily be manipulated.
How The Human Mind Works
We often compare the human mind to a computer, and for good reason: it IS a computer. The mind is a device. It can be programmed in any way we want, as long as it’s believable to us.
Most people operate under subconscious programs that they are clueless about having. Some were inherited from their parents. Some were created in their early childhood, and during other periods of time when they experienced strong emotions. In essence, the programs consist of belief systems about themselves and about the world.
Over the years I have come to understand that the programs that people operate under can be divided into two categories: mindset of lack and mindset of abundance. This is important to understand in order to give your focus the best use.
Unfortunately, the mindset of lack seems to be the mindset by default for most humans. We need to make an active choice in order to shift to a mindset of abundance.
Another key aspect to the functioning of the human mind is that it acts as a magnifying glass. What you focus upon you get more of. This is so because you give your life energy to the object(s) of focus. Therefore it’s wise to be mindful about what you focus upon and to use that to your benefit.
Ask yourself: do you focus upon your abundance – that which you already have – and cultivate gratitude for that? Or do you focus upon your lack – that which you want, but don’t have yet – and feel frustrated for that?
If you want to read more about how the Human mind works, have a look at the book ‘Understanding the Human Mind The Pursuit of Consciousness’.
Mind Your Focus!
Your focus is arguably THE most powerful tool you have as a human being. Out of all the possibilities you have to choose from, you create your reality by means of your focus. You could say that that which you focus upon exists, and the rest… well, that’s the rest.
You have probably experienced many times that somebody calls you ”out of the blue”. As you answer, you say, surprised ”I have been thinking about you – and now you call!”. Actually, that call didn’t come ”out of the blue”. You attracted it by focusing on that person – and then letting the thoughts go, as you shifted your focus to something or somebody else. Letting go is just as important as the focus in this process of manifestation.
While this example might seem extraordinary, this is how the process of manifestation works on an ongoing basis. The only thing that is extraordinary about this example is that you are aware of it. You made the connection between thinking about a person, and experience that person’s voice on the phone.
In all our actions and interactions, there’s an intermediary that is aware and that cooperates with us to give us what we want: the Universe. The Universe is the environment that is both within us and all around us. More importantly, it brings all the pieces together. As we learn about the Universal Laws we can align with their logic, and have the Universe magnify the outcome of our actions.
How The Law Of Attraction Interacts With You Through Your Focus
So far we have learned about the nervous system and about the human mind. We have learned how the process of focus and letting go creates our reality on an ongoing basis. And we have learned where the highly sensitive person personality trait fits in all that and how it can be a privilege for you to possess. Now let’s move on to learn about the Law of Attraction, which is probably the most known of all the Universal Laws.
The Law of Attraction states that on an energy level, like attracts like. This means that when you want to manifest something, your vibration must match the vibration of that which you intend to manifest. Therefore you might want to work on raising your vibration so that another reality can come into existence for you.
And the other way around: everything that is present in your current reality is there because you attracted it. If you love your current reality – congratulations! If you don’t – you’ve made a first step towards changing it for the better, simply by gaining awareness throughout this article.
Here’s how it works: the Universe responds to the vibration that we emanate. ALL of it. Whereas some things we emanate are unconscious or subconscious (as in the case of subconscious programming that we spoke about earlier), what we focus upon is a conscious choice. That makes it all the more fascinating.
Would you like to learn more about the law of attraction? The book ‘Law of Attraction: The Science of Attracting More of What You Want and Less of What You Don’t’ may be just what you’re looking for!
Privileges Of The Highly Sensitive Person: The Intensity Of The HSP Trait Is A True Blessing!
A common trap for HSPs is to focus on undesirable things or circumstances. Because we feel everything so intensely, it can be tricky to ignore those things or circumstances. And because we have such a developed empathy, we also tend to be eager to help others who are suffering. This can create suffering for ourselves if we don’t watch out.
In addition, if we help others expecting them to do the same for us, we are likely to feel disappointed when they don’t. Then, if we sustain the vibration of disappointment or even resentment for a longer period of time, our entire world will eventually be tainted by that vibration. In consequence, wherever we go we’ll find things to be disappointed or resentful about. The Universe will mirror back to us that which we have been sending out.
As you can see, it’s paramount that we learn to choose our focus with care. We also need to learn how to shift focus should we find ourselves in undesirable circumstances temporarily. Once we learn to master our focus, the intensity of the HSP trait is a true blessing! Anything we want to manifest will manifest so much faster.
Imagine that you are going somewhere by bike. If the destination inspires great joy in you, you will cycle faster and therefore arrive faster. The same holds true if the destination elicit anger from you. Even if you don’t actually want to be there, you’ll still arrive faster to your destination because of the intensity of your emotion. Being selective about which emotions you allow in your system is a game-changer!
Remember, the Universe is completely neutral. It never judges your decisions. Whatever you focus upon, you get more of – period. It’s up to you to focus on things that serve you well.
Conclusions
The highly sensitive personality trait is centered around the nervous system. The characteristics of how the nervous system is wired have far-going consequences in terms of what reality we can create for ourselves. Since our nervous system makes us so aware and since awareness equals choice, as HSPs we have more freedom to customize our journey through life.
Because of the intensity with which we experience life, we can create a highly rewarding experience for ourselves – or a miserable one. And everything in between. It all comes down to our ability to master our focus. When we get our focus right, being a highly sensitive person is indeed a privilege.
