As a highly sensitive person, my emotional sensitivity can be difficult to handle sometimes. However, I also realize that my trait of having strong emotions is what makes me dynamic and effective.

For highly sensitive people, emotions can be a powerful force that can push them to accomplish amazing things. So here are some good things about having the trait of emotional sensitivity, especially for highly sensitive people.

Strong Emotions Create Strong Motivation

When it comes to setting and reaching goals, a lot of attention is given to the more concrete things, such as the steps you need to take and the timeline for reaching your goals. However, your motivation for reaching those goals is more important than logistics. You can have the best laid out plans ever, but they mean nothing if you lack the drive to get started and stick to them.

The source of motivation is your emotions. It’s our emotions that move us to action. If you don’t have strong emotions towards a goal you’re trying to reach, you’re more likely not to stick to it and give up when things get tough.

I often try my best to fall in love with every project that I take on. Even when I’m struggling, I try to focus on why this project is meaningful, why I love it so much, what about it is working so far, and how the result will make me feel.

Without having strong emotions, there is no way I could publish work as regularly as I do, even in the face of difficulties. As an HSP, your strong emotions can help you to stick to projects and causes that others would give up on.

Strong Emotions Make You More Aware of What You Value

Every day we are given messages telling us what we should value. As an Enneagram Type 3, I know what it’s like to live a life of trying to make the values of “successful” people my own.

However, when you are disconnected from your values, you become a shell of yourself. You set goals that you don’t care to reach and can end up living a life that doesn’t feel like it belongs to you.

The common advice for Enneagram Type 3s is that if they want to live a life that feels authentic to what they want, they have to tap into their emotions.

As a highly sensitive person, you have the advantage of being in touch with your emotional landscape regularly. I have to admit that although I’m an HSP, I’ve gone through periods of my life where I’ve actively tried to detach from what I feel. These methods have ranged from being a caffeine-addicted workaholic to wearing a mask of who I thought I needed to be appreciated by others.

However, when you let all of that go and realize what truly matters to you, that’s when your emotions become a catalyst for authenticity. Care, affection, and love are all emotions, and it’s these emotions specifically that point you to what is important to you and your values. So what do you care about? Who do you care for? What do you love? What touches your heart?

I’ve found that as a highly sensitive person, detaching from my emotions is a bad idea. I can never suppress them for long, and when they come back, I end up going through way more suffering than if I had properly acknowledged them in the first place.

Emotional Sensitivity is Essential to Connecting With Others on a Deeper Level

As a highly sensitive person, you have a strong awareness of the wide range of human emotions. You feel every emotion deeply and intensely. This can be overwhelming at times. But there is a beautiful gift inside of emotional sensitivity.

To authentically connect with others, you must feel and be aware of all the emotions. When you understand your emotions as an HSP, it becomes clearer which emotions belong to you, and which emotions belong to others. Also, as I mentioned previously, awareness of what you sincerely care about makes you more authentic in general.

When you connect with others from who you are and what you feel, other people sense they’re interacting with a real person, not someone who is unrelatable. This in turn makes people feel comfortable around you.

Your awareness of emotion also makes it easier for you to tune into the needs of others. You can sense what is going on with another person, and adjust your actions and words accordingly. Being able to “read the room” is an important skill to have because you’re always aware of the right time, place, and occasion to handle the issues you have with others. For me, this sense has often helped me to find the right opportunities to broach sensitive topics and concerns with others.

Being Aware of Your Emotional Pain is Essential for Your Health

As a highly sensitive person, I focus a lot on managing my emotional ups and downs. The most important thing I’ve learned from getting better at handling my emotions is not to ignore my emotional pain.

Physical pain sends you a message. It says, slow down, stop, or do something different. The same goes for your emotions. Emotional pain is telling you that you need to slow down and reexamine what you’re doing. Sometimes it’s even telling you to stop doing something and to make a change. If the pain is especially bad, it may be a signal to seek help, just like how you need help when facing severe physical pain.

Don’t try to detach from or bury emotional pain. Being aware of it is the only way you can heal. So many people go through life hiding their emotional pain and doing nothing about it. As a highly sensitive person, you do not need to live with that much suffering. Your awareness enables you to find healing from your emotional pain much sooner than most people. All you need to do is listen to what your pain is telling you. This is most definitely a gift.

So these are all reasons why emotional sensitivity is a good trait for highly sensitive people to have. I hope this post has helped you to start seeing your intense emotions as important messengers and not enemies to fight.

Enjoyed this post?✨ If so, you’ll probably also appreciate my latest book, Love Your Sensitivity:7 Essential Life Changes to Make After Learning You’re a Highly Sensitive Person