What does being HSP mean to you?

Like to everyone personally, what does being highly sensitive meant to you? Do you define yourself by the term, do you tend to hide it, or is it just part of your every day life so much you don't even think about it anymore, it's just part of you?

Has there ever been a time being hsp has helped or saved you? Or hindered and stopped you?

The good and that bad, what does being a highly sensitive person mean to you?

It's really just an integral part of who I am.  Since I like who I am, I have few problems with it.

The obvious downsides for me are sensory overload at levels nonhsp find fine, and being different clearly from those around me.  But the gifts are so many, it's a price I pay gladly.

Yes there have been times when being an HSP empath has saved my life and times it hindered me.  But I figure not having the gifts HSP bring hinders nonHSP far more.

For me, being HSP is all about feeling deeply. There are so many shades of colour to my emotions. It is indeed a part of who I am. Without this trait, i can only think life would be simply colourless.

As melo said, being HSP is not a problem. It is what i am, not who i am. What is making it difficult is how to allow yourself to be who you are, when close to all your peers do not like it. Too mushy, too sensitive, too much thinking, too much analyzing. The most difficult part for most people is the feelings. It is too uncomfortable for their own taste. As such it makes it difficult to be "you".

They expect you to be what they expect you to be, but that in itself is due to what we would like. We seek in others, what we haven't found within ourselves. When we seek validation or acceptance in others, we have not found this within ourselves. It is what we feel and what we think. If we grow up being accepted for who we are, we do not learn to reject our selves. As such, we do not see acceptance in others later in life, because we were taught that it's ok to be who we are.

I can only think of pleasant things, when it comes to being HSP. There is nothing negative about it. A lot of HSPs keep saying, and i was one of them, that they wish they weren't HSP. Being HSP is a fully positive, marvelous and amazing experience. It is how others react and respond to it, which makes it seem like a bad thing. That is also what we allow. Do we allow what they think about it to have more value over what we feel about it?

Bumping this back up to the first page since we have a few new peoples lurking around and I'd love to hear their thoughts.

I like this thread's topic, Sam!
Discovering I was HSP saved me, or at least it opened my eyes. I now understand better why I do some things *this* way and not another, why I perceive things the way I do.
I really think that the HS trait is the quintessence of life. It's a very strong word, but since we all feel things more, see more colors, feel more emotionally, and that's life isn't it? Because what is the purpose of life if we go through it without noticing the grass' color, that our friend is sad and hiding it, or even hurting and growing because of it?
I'm sure all of those I'd have more trouble doing if I wasn't HSP.
And overwhelm is not a big tribute to pay if I gain all of that. It is actually helping me.
The HS trait is a part of me, and now that I'm taming it, I'm learning about myself in the process!
(I have no idea whether or not this is intelligible English, so sorry about that )