BorderPoint

Introduction

It is now estimated that as many as 1 in 5 people are what may be called a highly sensitive person. Do you find yourself easily irritated, quick to anger and low on patience? Do sudden and loud noises disturb you excessively? Have you found yourself experiencing unusual health problems? Are you becoming more sensitive to the foods you eat? If you are experiencing some of these symptoms which are commonly associated with hypersensitivity, you may be a highly sensitive person, and learning about the condition can make a significant contribution to your health and happiness.

Definition of a Highly Sensitive Person

Highly sensitive people, also known as individuals who are hypersensitive or people with overexcitabilities, are simply otherwise normal human beings who happen to have the as of yet still uncommon trait of being extremely sensitive to stimuli, both internal and external.

Hypersensitivity can be an asset yet more often than not is a handicap because HSP’s, as they are also known, usually are not sufficiently aware of or educated about their very own nature, and so tend to suffer silently. In fact, highly sensitive individuals are often plagued with physical and health problems, occasionally resulting in debilitating physical handicaps when the mismanagement of their lives is not rectified.

Common Symptoms of Hypersensitivity

Following is a list of common symptoms and experiences that highly sensitive people normally suffer from. If in reading the following list of symptoms you find that you can identify with these experiences, there is a good chance you are a highy sensitive person. Recognizing and understanding the phenomenon and its role in your life will be critical to being able to not only live a full, healthy and happy life, but will also be essential in awakening to your divine purpose.

• Easily bothered by sudden or loud noises.
• Troubled by disorder in the environment.
• Unduly affected by the emotions and states of other people.
• Deeply troubled by conflict or violence.
• Sensitive to foods, smells and environmental chemicals.

Hypersensitivity Explained

Highly sensitive people are typically empathic, and this further complicates their lives. Empaths are those who feel very deeply the emotional energy of others, and for the HSP who is untrained in recognizing and understanding the condition so as to be able to learn how to shield and protect oneself from the chaotic and imbalanced energies of other human beings, life can be a living hell simply as a result of the people they are surrounded by.

It appears that a growing percentage of the population are becoming hypersensitive. Some estimates put the ratio at even 15-20% of all people. For the most part, hypersensitivity is a genetically influenced trait, although environmental factors play a significant role in its expression and in the experience of the condition. The increasing energetic chaos of modern life, amplified by technological development, seems to be increasing the occurence of hypersensitivity among human beings.

Drawbacks and Dangers of Being a Highly Sensitive Person

Hypersensitivity which is not properly addressed and managed can lead to even debilitating consequences, affecting every aspect of a person’s life. Here are some of the potential consequences of not understanding and addressing your unique needs.

• Poor Physical Health. An entire slew of physical conditions typically affect highly sensitive people, ranging from mild to serious food sensitivities, allergies, joint and muscle pain. If the trait is unconsidered and aggravated enough, it can eventually leads to auto-immune disorders such as lupus, fibromyalgia and even cancer. The excessive energetic imbalance to which HPS’s are susceptible interferes with proper hormone production and can result even in damaged and inflamed organs, further complicating one’s health condition.
• Emotional Instability. The highly sensitive person can be described as porous, and as such they typically have little defense against the energetic states of other people. Because of their open nature, they are particularly sensitive to anger, conflict, depression and unappiness in others. HSP’s tend to internalize these imbalanced states and emotions as if they were their own, and so may often be plagued with pain in relationships. Consequently, hypersensitive people tend to become irritable and quick to anger, although they tend not to hold onto these emotions. Unfortunately, persistent emotional instability typically leads to some form of substance abuse as a means of coping, and HSP’s can succumb to the abuse of food, alcohol and even drugs.
• Practical Problems. Due to their increased experience with pain, highly sensitive people are often overly cautious and fearful, particularly when making choices. Because they tend to think deeply, they are generally unecessarily encumbered by the fear of consequences even when addressing trivial matters. They tend to be indecisive. And because they feel at a deeper level, they are often more timid, shy, and even reclusive.
• Relationship Trouble. Because “normal” people do not experience things as profoundly as do hypersensitive individuals, their friends and companions  often do not understand the extreme sensitivity of HSP’s, in effect wounding them almost continually out of ignorance. Non-HSP systems are different, and whereas a normal individual usually has a much thicker layer of protection against stimuli and energy, the highly sensitive person typically has practically no defense against external chaos. This can lead to extreme complications in relationships with normal people who often simply do not understand what the HSP goes through.

The truth of the matter is that the highly sensitive individual has an overly developed sense of self, ego, and this necessitates spiritual development. For the HSP, failure equals death, and so out of a deep fear of failure they are often doomed to unhappy and ungratifying circumstances, seldom realizing their unique gifted potential.

On this note, I will quote here what Pearl S. Buck, recipient of the Pulitzer Prize in 1932 and of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1938, said regarding the highly sensitive person:

The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this:

A human creature born abnormally, inhumanly sensitive.

To him… A touch is a blow,

A sound is a noise,

A misfortune is a tragedy,

A joy is an ecstasy,

A friend is a lover,

A lover is a god,

And failure is death.

Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to create, create, create… So that without the creating of music or poetry or books or buildings or something of meaning, his very breath is cut off from him. He must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown, inward urgency he is not really alive unless he is creating.

– Pearl S. Buck

Benefits and Advantages of Being a Highly Sensitive Person

The above quote now leads us to the significant and unique advantages of being a highly sensitive person, and to the unique gifts you have to offer the world.

Dr. Kazimiers Dabrowski in his Theory of Positive Disintegration and Overexcitabilities shows that highly sensitive people are gifted with a higher development potential. Usually, HSP’s are:

• Creative by nature. It has been said that all truly talented and gifted human beings are highly sensitive persons, yet most HSP’s never express their true creative genius.
• More aware. Because of their open and sensitive nature, HSP’s are usually aware of much more than the normal person. This gives them a much more sensitive tool with which to learn, grow, develop and understand.
• Have a greater development potential. Hypersensitivity is indicative of a spiritual energy field that is resonating at a higher frequency, hence its increased alertness, and so HSP’s are genetically predisposed with a great potential and capacity for personal development and evolution.

Suggestions for Living as a Highly Sensitive Person

For those who are hypersensitive, the following suggestions and guidelines can make the difference between happiness and misery, success and failure.

• Be physically active. Because the highly introspective and intelligent nature of highly sensitive people will generally draw them into occupations which are more mental than physical, a lack of grounding will exacerbate imbalance in their systems and lives. For HSP’s, daily physical activity is a must. Exercise daily to keep your energy system operating efficiently and this will lead to greater confidence, creativity, health and emotional state.
• Adopt a healthy diet. Because oversensitive individuals will tend to react much more strongly to foods, it is highly suggested that you embrace as natural and raw a diet as possible. Avoid processed foods, typically prepared with chemical additives and preservatives and devoid of real nutrients. In addition to being physically active, with a proper diet you will experience even greater levels of vitality, balance and well-being. Because the HSP system is so much more sensitive, it responds rapidly to changes and proper conditions. By eliminating overstimulating foods such as caffeine and sugar, you will begin experiencing greater energy levels and a much more powerful immune system. I have found the Longevity Now Program by nutrition expert David Wolf, one of the world’s leading pioneers in the field of human health, to be one of the most comprehensive and intelligent approaches to taking back control of your health through proper choices and education.
• Detoxify your life. Avoid toxins not only in the foods you eat, but also in your environment and in your relationships. Learn to identify foods that adversely affect your system. Embrace a holistic lifestyle as much as possible. Chemicals found in common household products and manufacturing are toxic and can wreak havoc on the HSP immune system. And until you learn through spiritual development to process negativity, avoid negative people, situations and environments as much as possible.
• Learn to focus. Master the art and skill of focusing your attention on one thing at a time. Because we live in an age of technological innovation, take extra care particularly when working on a computer, an instrument that tends to inherently disperse one’s focus in endless directions. Do one thing at a time. By controlling and limiting the focus of your attention, you will not only be more productive and efficient, you will avoid the unnecessary stress and overwhelm that plagues most people. For an idea of what the end result of unbridled technological immersion can do to the human nervous system, see the movie Johnny Mneumonic, starring none other than Keanu Reeves.
• Engage in spiritual development. Last, but certainly not least, engage in spiritual development. This is really the heart of the matter, and the true gift of being a highly sensitive person. For the highly sensitive person, developing mentally, emotionally and spirituality is critical. It may be said that this is the very reason, the necessity of evolution, for the global increase in sensitivity. To necessitate evolution.

Your Divine Purpose

Throughout this article, I have described hypersensitivity primarily in terms of the physical nervous system. Yet the reality of the matter is that the phenomenon is energetic, or spiritual in nature. Also, I have deliberately avoided the the term “disorder” when referring to hypersensitivity because in reality the phenomenon is a gift. Hypersensitivity is a sign of a spiritually evolved soul (or it may be said of a soul that is ready to evolve), and this latent potential deserves to be developed.

By learning to develop your soul’s capacity to process life, you will un-limit your creative capacity which otherwise remains dormant. Through overcoming the fear and inertia that tends to keep hypersensitive individuals unnecessarily stuck in life, they become free to not only pursue purpose and passion, but to make a significant contribution to the lives of others and to the world at large.

Because highly sensitive individuals respond so much quicker than the general population to stimuli, HSP’s are human indicators of a divine guidance system to assist development in accordance with the will of Life. They see and feel the effects of certain courses of action well before the general population becomes aware of them. In this regard hypersensitive individuals are not unlike the rose bush, which is often planted in a vineyard as an early warning system of disease in the soil. Because the rose will react much sooner than the grape vines, it provides an early warning system for measures to be taken to save the crop.

Now that you are better educated about your own nature, you can begin using it to unveil your divine purpose and assist the world in moving forward, in progressing intelligently in harmony with nature and Divine Will.

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News has just surfaced about baby Ali, a young child in Daghestan who is apparently being illuminated with verses from the Qur’an on his body.

According to the report, young Ali’s temperature rises to about 40 degrees Celsius and verses from the Qu’ran then appear on his skin. This tends to take place on Fridays, the holy day for Muslims.

Press play above to watch the report from Reuters.

Thou Shalt Not Judge, Condemn or Label

The life of singer-songwriter Everlast, a.k.a. Eric Schrody, took a dramatic turn towards the spiritual after a near death experience due to a problematic heart condition left him debilitated in the hospital recovery room. The Irish-American artist best known for his unique blend of rap and rock music wrote a powerful and moving song entitled What It’s Like, the message of which is essentially that one cannot possibly judge, let alone label or condemn, another human being without first experiencing life “in their shoes,” in other words, without a deep sense of empathy for the other.

The passionate call for empathy within the lyrics of What It’s Like is moving and powerful, and the fact that this type of message is now not uncommon in popular music is yet another indication that we as a global society are moving towards a new model, a new paradigm, based in compassion, love and forgiveness.

The necessity of empathy and compassion are no longer luxuries, for the modern technological age has amplified our ability to effect the world around us, in either creative and constructive pursuits as well as in violent and destructive, pathological activities. Spiritual evolution and growth is no longer something we can do without.

Furthermore, the practice of empathy, compassion and forgiveness is central to the teachings of all spiritual teachers and leaders, particularly the paths of the Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad.

The following quote from the Dalai Lama exemplifies this, the fact that we as a species now require a spiritual awakening in order to not simply move forward, but to survive:

Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible…

Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.

– The Dalai Lama

Listen to Everlast’s What It’s Like below.

What’s next?

District 9: Paving the Way to Unity

Peter Jackson’s recently released District 9 can be a difficult, at times disturbing, movie to watch. Although Jackson does not resist the now common abuse of technical innovation enabling extreme graphic violence, the movie is not without merit. In fact, this latest creation by the acclaimed director makes an important point. The film’s value is significantly increased when one reflects upon the underlying drama and theme of the film.

In a word, District 9 is a powerful presentation on the subject of self-preservation and the ramifications of this seemingly inherent drive among sentient beings. Peter Jackson effectively illustrates the unsympathetic, heartless consequences that result from a reality based in unconscious, ego driven instinct. And through powerful symbolism, Jackson offers the cure to the end of conflict: That only by becoming the other and developing our capacity for empathy can we hope to live up to our divine potential as compassionate, selfless beings, thereby creating a better world for all.

The story begins with the arrival of an alien spacecraft that hovers above Johannesburg, South Africa for some time. Eventually, the alien inhabitants are discovered within, in a state of malnourishment and decrepitude. They are given asylum in Johannesburg in what essentially becomes a ghetto, nominally known as District 9, and begin to take their place at the bottom of the food chain within the greater society.

Naturally, tension and resentment arise between the alien visitors and the humans within the vicinity, leading to escalating hostility that eventually necessitates the relocation of the offworlders to yet another concentration camp further from “civilized” society.

In the course of events the human administrator responsible for managing the transplantation of the residents of District 9 contracts a bizarre condition resulting in a startling physical transformation, irrevocably altering the course of his otherwise normal life.

Without revealing too much about the film, the point that District 9 ultimately makes is that only by becoming the other is our empathy engaged. In other words, until we learn to empathize with the other and feel from their perspective, we will continue to be driven by selfish fear at the expense of cooperative benefit, accompanied often times with primitive, violent and sadistic behavior.

From a humanitarian and spiritual perspective, the understanding of this concept is a significant step forward in our evolution as a species and the realization of our divine destiny in a world based in peace, love, compassion, prosperity and justice for all.

For as long as there exists an other, we will have enemies and we will have conflict. Only when our paradigm shifts from us and them to simply us, when we truly realize that we are all in this together, will we manifest the beautiful, divine potential we are gifted with and create a world worthy of us.

We suffer from the loss of our humanity when only self-preservation rules. It is the lack of empathy, true and real feeling for another, that leads human beings to the incomprehensibly cruel and callous treatment of other living things, with total disregard for their sentience, causing unimaginable suffering.

How have we fallen to such abysmal depths in consciousness, particularly in the western world where the very spiritual tradition that is embraced by the vast majority of people, the Christian tradition, is fundamentally based in love, compassion and self-sacrifice, in stark contrast to the ego-based drive for self-preservation?

The great prophet Jesus is said to have died out of love for his enemies, and yet our society, nominally based in “Christian” values, goes out of its way to create enemies to crucify. How have we arrived at this?

It is the fundamental error in perception of disconnection, disunity and separation that causes us to judge, condemn, label and ultimately attack another. Returning to the example of Jesus, where his peers were quick to judge and condemn another, he rather reacted with empathy and compassion, mercy and forgiveness. We have much to learn should we come close to truly exemplifying the principles and paths of the great spiritual traditions we lay claim to.

Compassion is only possible through empathy. Empathy is the key to selflessness and evolution of the spirit. Empathy is the key to healing the rift and separation between a man and his brother, and thus between humanity and God. For as a great spiritual teacher once said, “If you fail to see the Divine in your brother, you need not look further.” It is empathy that enables us to forgive.

Furthermore, it is precisely the ultimate sacrifice, self-sacrifice, the conscious embrace of death, that ends the illusion of the ego and is the doorway to freedom, love and truth. In light of this, the words of the Prophet Muhammad ring with clarity, purpose and divine guidance where he advised to the believers, “Die before you die.”

The practice of empathy is a powerful gift. To be able to feel the pain that another experiences is a divine favor. For it is through empathy that we acquire the capacity to love even our enemies, and so become true, human beings.

The world requires healing. And the most effective act to effect global healing is to effect healing in our own lives, our own seemingly small personal lives. Yet the repercussions of such small actions are great and span outwards, as in the butterfly effect, creating a cascading wave of change, the effects of which are far greater than we may realize.

In this time of accelerating change, when one candle is lit, hundreds, perhaps thousands of others will be en-lightened.

Through empathy and genuine love for another, human interactions become transformed from what I can get to what I can give, from how I can benefit to how I can serve. And as we actively practice the golden rule, we will cooperatively create a golden world.

Empathy and compassion are the cure.