HSP Wins Car for Being Highly Sensitive

Originally published in Comfort Zone Newsletter, August 2009—a reader (who attended a workshop of mine) sent us this true and wonderful story:

I finished an MBA shortly after your workshop. I am near the end of my career in consumer finance, and plan on starting my graduate studies in psychology. I know with my understanding of HSP and PTSD [Post Traumatic Stress Disorder] that I can make a contribution. I wish to do research, teach, and have a practice through what would have been my retirement years. I am from long-lived people who work late into life, so it seems doable certainly even if I am starting at 58.

My high sensitivity helps me in working with my customers. I performed very well last year and would you believe won a car at work? In my 28.5 yrs I’ve never dreamed of a prize like that at work, but they put it out there and I got it. Who knew! I am not saying this to brag. It really wasn’t about me, per se, but my ability to calm the sympathetic nervous systems of my distressed customers by being extra sensitive. I knew how to keep the doors of communication open without frightening people. That skill really pays off, and WE have it because we are highly sensitive. We know what would make it easier for us. That and limbic resonance (A Theory of Love General) are two things I’d love to write about and do more research on.