Many of us creative, intuitive beings are walking around thinking poorly of ourselves. We still buy into the idea that sensitivity is a weakness. Time to knock it off!
Here's a throwback to my old-fashioned style quiz which will help you understand how your sensitivity can actually be a strength in your day to day life.

The Strength of Sensitivity Quiz

Take the quiz below from Dr Kyra Mesich to discover the greatest Strengths of Your Sensitivity!

Write down the numbers of all the statements are generally true for you. 

1. Your sense of smell is very acute, such that odors bother you even when other people don’t notice them.
2. Other people always seem to come to you for support and someone to talk to.
3. You startle easily from unexpected stimuli like loud noises.
4. You have learned that it is usually best to trust your gut feelings when making decisions rather than over-thinking it.
5. You have a special connection with animals and easily understand their nonverbal communication.
6. You often see the obvious solution to a problem despite others trying the same old approaches over and over.
7. You avoid watching the news or certain shows and movies because there is too much negativity or violence.
8. You hear sounds that others don’t seem to notice such as the buzzing of fluorescent lights, or the high-pitched sound from some electronics.
9. You have had an experience of feeling strongly that you would be doing something (moving into a blue house, starting a new job) had no idea how that could happen, but it eventually did.
10. You are a musician, artist, writer, or crafty person who loves to design or make things.
11. You have uncomfortable reactions around certain scented products, such as perfume, cleaners, scented candles, etc.
12. You have good instincts. As long as you follow them, things tend to turn out well.
13. You revel in sensory experiences, such as touching a soft blanket, looking at a beautiful flower, or sipping a warm cup of tea.
14. You wish that organizations like schools and corporations would experiment with new approaches to be more effective.
15. You are often able to notice what other people (adults and children) need or want without them verbally telling you.

Interpreting your results: If you noted two or three of the statements in the following categories, then that quality is one of your greatest strengths of sensitivity.

Perceptive: Numbers 1, 8 and 15. You are very perceptive, which means you have keen, responsive senses and the ability to notice things quickly. This is a strength because you are very aware of your surroundings. You are the detective who hones in on the clues that everyone else misses.

Creative: Numbers 6, 10 and 14. You have the soul of an artist and the ability to think outside the box. This is a great strength because you bring beauty and new possibilities to people’s lives. You are the creative spark in an otherwise dull world.

Responsive: Numbers 3, 11 and 13. Your body is a precision instrument, and you experience clear responses. This might not always feel like a strength, but there are benefits. Your body is constantly communicating with you about what is healthy and balanced for you and what is not. You also are able to delight in the simple pleasures in life. You are the harmonizer who strives to bring peaceful comfort into the world.

Intuitive: Numbers 4, 9 and 12. You naturally have the gift of intuition, or a still small voice within that guides you. Intuition is a tremendous bonus that makes life easier, as long as we learn to listen and trust it. There’s more to life than meets the eye, and you are the embodiment of that.

Empathic: Numbers 2, 5 and 7. This is the most misunderstood strength of sensitivity. As an empathic person, you naturally sense and feel emotional energy from people, animals, and places. When this strength is balanced, your empathy can be used like intuition to give you useful information. In other words, you can sense the emotional truth of a situation, despite what others may try to hide or not be able to clearly communicate. You understand others on a deep level and are the compassionate warmth in a sometimes cold world.

As you can see, our collective sensitive strengths make the world a better place. We bring qualities of awareness, creativity, harmony, intuition, and compassion to life. Our traits are important, and we have every right to fully express who we are as sensitive people. We also have the right to feel peaceful, comfortable & confident in life!

Dr Kyra is author of The Strength of Sensitivity. Learn more at www.drkyra.com

Undercommitted & Overjoyed or I’ll Have to Get Back to You on That

Do you feel overcommitted? Are you overextended, dealing with other people’s requests, meeting their needs? Are you frequently saying yes to this or that invitation or offer, sometimes leaving only the dregs of your time left for what you want and need? If yes, then please read on.

New Yorker cartoon by Emily Flake

As author of The Strength of Sensitivity, I work with many kind, generous, good-hearted people. Thank goodness for you lovely souls who naturally want to support and help other people. It's an important, valuable part of who you are. But sometimes you get stuck in a never ending cycle of yes, which is very agreeable of you, but scatters your energy outward.

This tendency affects sensitive souls of all ages and walks of life, and if you are an entrepreneur or business owner, then you may be struggling with this in spades. Does any of this sound familiar?

A client asks you for an extra, super early appointment. You say yes, even though you really don’t want to drive across town in the wee dark hours of the morning.

A business associate you met at a networking event asks you for coffee, but at her office on the far side of the city. You say yes, afterward wishing you had asked to at least meet half-way in between because you wind up losing way over an hour just in travel time driving there and back.

Friends ask you to please be on their committee. They’re planning a fundraising event for a really important cause - one that you certainly care about. You say yes, even though your schedule is tight with extra work deadlines this next couple months. Now you’re feeling overwhelmed.

An acquaintance who is going through a break up and a chaotic time lately asks you to meet him for dinner. You say yes, even though you know it’s going to drain you.

If these scenarios have a twinge of familiarity to you, then may I present to you your new mantra:

I’ll have to get back to you on that…

If your response to someone's ask is instead more along the lines of, “I think maybe I’m free, but I’m not sure,” or “Okay, I’ll let you know,” guess what you have just said – YES. The requester is going to hear what he or she wants to hear. So if your response can in any way be construed as an agreement, then you have firmly landed in YES TOWN.

But I'm really not sure...

That's okay. For some requests, you really don’t know your answer at first do you? Maybe you will say yes, but you need to contemplate it. And you have that right. You do not owe anyone an immediate response. We live in a super fast-paced world, but that doesn’t mean you have to give an instant yes or no.

Unless the offer in question is something you have wanted to do, or you can immediately feel a YES response in you body, then your best course of action is I’ll have to get back to you.

But don’t stop with giving yourself some time. The next step is to clear your head, connect within, and feel your body’s inner wisdom about the offer.

If you need centering first, remember that you can go to the audio meditations on my website at drkyra.com and listen to one of my guided meditations, such as the grounding tree, to get into a receptive mode first. Then:

1. Breathe and focus inward.

2. Think about or visualize the events related to the invitation.

3. Then notice a feeling or sensation of a yes (pleasant, open or energized feeling) or no (tightness, sinking feeling, or even pain) in your body.

A non-feeling or middle of the road feeling means just that. The commitment wouldn't be horrible, but not all that rewarding for you either, so consider whether it would drain your time.

If you know that you’re the kind of person who might fold and still say yes when it comes back around, then scroll down on this blog and read Say No & Feel Good About It from July 2017.

I guarantee you if there are times when you undercommit, then there will be times you feel overjoyed in the freedom of it all.

It’s more important than ever to make taking care of YOU your number one priority. No one else needs to understand why. We can just keep that a secret between you & me.

So one more time, let's practice saying it, I’ll have to get back to you on that.

-Dr Kyra Mesich, www.drkyra.com