I'm another highly sensitive person.
Yep. I've encountered many of those people. Some of whom are ex-spouses.
I learned at an early age to lock up my true self in order to protect myself. At 14 I was sitting in the kitchen in my house with two of the tough biker dudes, a big one and a skinny one. The big one said, "We're murderers and rapists." The skinny one said, "Well, we're not really murderers." Much laughter and guffawing. I knew at that exact moment that if I showed any fear, something bad would happen to me.
So I shut out the soft, vulnerable side of me and hid it away for years.
From the ex-spouses, I've learned how to recognize when people are mistreating me. I can now assess the relationship and make a conscious decision about how to proceed.
The flip side is that I am killer at figuring out what students need. My sensitivity helps me to determine what makes each child tick, and I'm often able to help the kids better than other adults.
