Why not create your own user manual? Shall we discover your true self together? (HSP/Occupational Therapist)
For those who are HSP (Highly Sensitive Persons), to make daily life easier, I have been posting for 6 months based on my own experiences.
I speak as someone who is an HSP myself, but it is not that I went to a hospital and received a diagnosis. I took several HSP tests found on the internet, and all of them resulted in me being an HSP, which made me feel,
'Ah, so the difficulty in living that I have felt since I was a child was because of this temperament called HSP.'
It felt like everything finally made sense.
However, I think there are many other names one could give to my HSP temperament besides just that.
In the currently popular MBTI test, I was an INFJ, and in my 20s, I was once told I had adjustment disorder. There are also things like attachment disorder, introverted temperament, panic disorder, etc.
There are trendy terms for every era, aren't there? HSP and MBTI tests might also be terms that are no longer used in a few years.
Though I am the one posting about HSP, I also think it is not good to take every word at face value.
My personality is different from others, something is wrong... I want peace of mind by having a name for the hardship that makes me different from others. I want to be acknowledged by others from their perspective.
I think there is at least some of that feeling as well.
By knowing the generally accepted personality traits of an HSP, it can also be a trigger to know yourself.
When someone expresses your personality with solid terms, the vague feelings you couldn't put into words until now become clear, don't they? However, what I want to be careful about here is that if you start thinking that everything about you equals HSP, I feel it becomes a bit stifling.
I may sound persistent, but I hope you do not convince yourself that the generally accepted HSP temperament is your entire personality.
I can't join groups because I'm an HSP. I get tired easily and end up taking time off work because I'm an HSP.
Because I'm an HSP... I am pitiful, I really am different from others. I don't think things will move in a good direction if you become too pessimistic like that.
So, what should you do? As a hint for that,
getting to know your true self as you are becomes important.
What kind of environment do you find comfortable? When do you feel happy? When are you most focused?
What kind of environment are you not good with? When do you feel unpleasant? What kind of people do you want to keep your distance from?
How about it? Can you answer?
I have lived my life based on others' standards until now, so embarrassingly, I could not answer these questions.
I can immediately say what foods I like or dislike, but how should I spend my time to feel comfortable? What kind of situations make me tired? Surprisingly, there may be many HSP people who do not know these things.
I don't know...
No... I've been suppressing my feelings until now...
Should I put it that way??
Through this post, why don't we dig a little deeper
into yourself together?
By knowing your true self just as you are,
you can visualize specifically how to make your daily life easier,
and how to deal with situations you find difficult.
It becomes concrete.
Before you lament that because you are an HSP, because you are sensitive, life is hard for you...
...
Because I am an HSP, because I am sensitive, how can I live more easily
anyway??
Change your way of thinking a little,
and why don't we try creating your own user manual together?
From here on, we will do some exercises.
(What you need)
For those who prefer handwriting:
Paper (any kind is fine), pen
For those who prefer digital:
A computer is also fine.
Write down things you like in the left blank space. I like drawing, I like mountain climbing,
I like quiet environments, etc...
In the right blank space, write down specifically what you do.
I like drawing -> I like painting landscapes with watercolors. Next time I want to go
to paint a temple.
I like quiet environments -> I try to take time for myself as much as possible.
At those times, I try to drink my favorite tea with a snack.
*What is very important here is to write down your likes specifically.
Daily life is built on daily habits.
By writing specifically, it becomes easier to incorporate them into your daily habits.
I wrote about routines in a previous post, so
if you feel like it, I hope you will read it.
After writing down the things you like, or you can do it simultaneously, either is fine,
but not just the things you like, also write down the things you dislike or find difficult in parallel.
Just like with the things you like, write down the things you dislike or find difficult on the left side.
Then, on the right side, write down countermeasures for them. (How to spend
days without getting tired)
I believe it is very important to have a firm grasp of your own dislikes and things you find difficult.
Let's make our hobbies our work.
Let's make our holidays fulfilling with our favorite hobbies.
These are common phrases, but when serious HSPs hear these words,
I have to find what I like.
I have to make what I like my work.
I have to go somewhere and do something on my days off.
I feel like I end up thinking like this.
Before I knew it, I feel like I am cornering myself with the mindset of
I have to do...
By grasping not only your dislikes and things you find difficult but also your habits of thought,
you can keep liking what you like,
keep a good distance from things you dislike or find difficult, and avoid
exhausting yourself.
Not exhausting yourself in your daily life means that with the remaining energy,
you will also be able to focus on the things you like and the things you want to try.
It is a simple method, but why not give it a try?
The image attached below is the user manual I am writing for myself, so I hope you can use it as a reference.
Please do not try to finish this work in a single day.
Just by being conscious of getting to know yourself as you go about your daily life,
it will slowly become clear.
When something suddenly becomes clear in your daily life, you can take a note,
and I think it is fine to write it down slowly later.
It took me a month just to create this amount.
I believe it will continue to be updated every time I discover a new side of myself.
I think.
This time, we worked on getting to know ourselves, but as for the next step,
it becomes important to see how much of your true self you can incorporate into your daily life.
Even if you manage to get to know yourself, if you do not actually take action
and make improvements, it will end up being the same as nothing changing at all.
I am planning to post the specific details of that next time,
so I hope you will continue reading if you would like.
I am making posts to help HSPs and sensitive people live more comfortably every day.
Why not read them as well and find many small daily joys together? ↓↓↓↓♡