Day 6 of the 2021 Empowerment Guide for HSPs! Today, integrative psychotherapist, Jody Day, explores what to means to be human through grief, involuntary choices, and resilience. This is a thought-provoking article that reminds us of our fundamental powerlessness in the face of nature. Rather than seeing that lack of real control as defeating, we may come to see it as an opportunity for growth, for learning. There will undoubtedly be things that happen to each of us that may not seem “fair,” equitable, or just but they happen anyway and how we choose to respond or process events is always up to us.

This may seem contradictory for HSPs, who may value predictability, stability, and the familiar over the unfamiliar to minimize anxiety and distress but that would be to deny the worth and value of ambiguity and the fundamental nature of life, which is again never fully in our control. Too many HSPs, in my experience, hold themselves back too much and allow their natural inhibition to limit who and what they may become. What’s the worth of having strong developmental potential, as many HSPs often do, when we are too concerned with needing a definite outcome that is predictable? It goes against the reality of life, which is unpredictable, chaotic, and at-risk each moment we are alive.

My advise to HSPs is to not allow our natural inhibition to become so prevalent as to preclude us from developing and growing as fully as we might otherwise. To allow this is to truly not understand what sensory processing sensitivity evolved as a personality trait for in the species. Seek out appropriate mentors in 2021 to help guide and steer you towards greater self-awareness and an accurate understanding of sensory processing sensitivity.

Jody Day is the British founder of Gateway Women, the global friendship and support network for childless women and the author of ‘Living the Life Unexpected: 12 Weeks to Your Plan B for a Meaningful and Fulfilling Future Without Children’.

An HSP herself, she’s a thought-leader on female involuntary childlessness, an integrative psychotherapist, a TEDx speaker and a former Fellow in Social Innovation at Cambridge Judge Business School. A World Childless Week champion, she lives in rural Ireland and is working on a new book.You can engage with Jody directly in Gateway Women’s online community where you’ll find her most days. She’s also on Twitter and Instagram.

Please click the link below to view Jody Day’s article.

Letting Go Of Certainty