I hate the word “sensitive”

I hate the word “sensitive.”  It has been given such a negative connotation, and people often mean it as a weakness.  But really, being sensitive is a strength. Being sensitive means that I care to validate the experiences of myself and someone else.  

Sometimes people who’d like to dismiss or belittle our pain will call us sensitive as a way to invalidate what we’ve experienced.  But someone else should not get to tell you how to process your experience.  Of course, it is up to you to find ways to cope and conduct yourself so that you are not too easily offended. However, it is not the right or duty of someone else to tell you how to feel. 

Also, sometimes people call you sensitive to insinuate that you’re delicate.  Having a tender heart should not be an insult.  Acknowledging problems and issues shows strength because you have to be strong to be that vulnerable.  

I have decided to reclaim the word sensitive. I am not “sensitive” because what I have been through has registered to me as pain or hurt.  I am sensitive because I am empowered to turn that pain and hurt into empathy.  I am strong enough to recognize my own pain, and I am strong enough to sense the pain of others and find ways to safeguard us all from things that are harmful.  

Isaiah 61:1 guides me.  The scripture says: 

"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.”

This reminds me how important empathy is to who I am. 

Through empathy, I teach fitness.  We may not have to choice about the sensation we detect or respond to.  But - exercise is a choice.  There is power and freedom in absorbing any offense and making the decision to pursue self-love and love of others instead of sinking into bitterness.   Sensitive for me means that I combine a true depth of feeling with spiritual insight to really feel. Feel for me.  Feel for you - for you to feel heard, feel seen and feel understood.