5 Signs You’re Overdoing It as a Highly Sensitive Person
I could hear it in my voice.
The bite to my words. A coldness.
That was the sound of someone just getting by. Of patience worn thin. Of “please leave me alone”.
It was a sound I heard in my voice a lot at that time of my life. And it came with me saying no to everything my partner at the time suggested.
I felt harsh and uncaring.
Not like the sweet, innocent, eager to help and caring little sensitive soul that I remembered from childhood.
In small moments of stillness, the contrast wasn’t lost on me. My sweetness had become buried under obligations, stress and always being on the go.
My life was out of alignment.
I felt filled to the brim, like a glass of water ready to overflow. Too tired to even talk, I had entered overstimulation station.
I knew this wasn’t the real me. This was me feeling very overloaded from holding 6 student sessions a day, 4 days a week, for weeks and weeks.
It was too much deep listening, too much stimulation.
When you’re moving too fast, like I was, you may not see how living a life that’s too busy is changing you.
While everyone’s experience of overdoing it may be different, here are 5 signs I noticed during the busiest periods of my life.
5 signs you’re overdoing it as an HSP
You practice Jedi mind tricks to repel people, sending “stay away” vibes to every human who crosses your path. Going to the grocery store, you have no energy for pleasant conversation or eye contact with strangers. Your standoffishness feels like self-preservation.
You’re closing off to people around you. And saying no to everything. You’re impatient and irritable, gruff and detached from your partner and your friends. It’s too hard to see other people’s happiness on social media.
Sweets feel like a lifeline to decompress, to feel treated and to lift your mood, even if they only provide momentary relief.
Emotional and physical exhaustion is a steady state that’s not fixed by going to bed earlier or resting during the day. When you try to sleep, you just toss and turn, thinking about everything that happened in your day.
Your concept of yourself as a helpful person has changed. Everything feels like an obligation and feels hard. Your natural giving nature has been buried.
An invitation to make a change and evolve your life
If you’re noticing these or other signs and your gut is saying something needs to change, what would you shift or release about your life so you can breathe again and expand into the best version of yourself?
Your mind may say, “I can’t make any changes, there’s nothing I can do.” But I’m here to lovingly encourage you to look past doubts and fears.
To imagine, what if your life could be different, easier, more satisfying?
What would that life look like?
If you can begin to imagine it, you can start to make it happen.
The world needs you to be happy and satisfied. To live open and fully alive.
Because that’s how you fulfill your unique purpose in this lifetime.
YOUR TURN— LEAVE A COMMENT
What are your signs of overdoing it and overstimulation? Leave a comment below and be specific. You may inspire someone else with your insights.