A Word of Benefit – Sensitivity
A Word of Benefit – Sensitivity [1]
Sensitivity
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There are people who are affected quickly, for the least reasons. They may even be affected by nothing. Their senses are very delicate, and their feelings are like silk. They become upset for any reason. Perhaps they cry over nothing. And they think that they have been hurt or insulted, even by the most beloved of their loved ones!!
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This excessive sensitivity, and this excessive emotion, are things that tire the soul. They tire the person from within, and they tire the people who deal with him. Such a person needs to be broad-chested…
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The sensitive person: his chest is narrow, his temperament is narrow, his nerves are tense, and his sorrow is near. And whoever deals with him does not feel comfortable.
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As for the broad-chested person, in colloquial speech they call him “bahbooh.”
This person everyone can speak with comfortably, without fear, and without caution. Because he does not become upset quickly, and he does not take matters with سوء ظن (ill suspicion).
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The self-side or the personal side does not become stirred within him.
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Melancholy does not overcome him, nor sadness, nor distress, nor psychological fatigue, nor psychological confinement. Rather, he is a simple person, easy, who can preserve his friendships without them being shaken by people’s behaviors.
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Sensitivity is a form of self-centeredness, mixed with much emotion. And a person’s emotion in it is toward himself, not toward others.
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The sensitive person is often sensitive toward the following matters: he is sensitive regarding his dignity, people’s respect for him, and people’s treatment of him. He is sensitive regarding his rights, or what he thinks are his rights. He may also be sensitive regarding his comfort, and regarding his superiority and distinction. Here he may be very sensitive in a comparative way, meaning that he compares, for example, between people’s treatment of him and their treatment of others with a kind of excessive delicacy…
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The sensitive person’s nerves are very delicate and very tender, quick to be affected. And often his reactions quickly appear on his face, and his features expose them…
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Psychological sensitivity is of two kinds: a kind that is affected inwardly and suffers in silence, and a kind that revolts and takes revenge for itself.
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Often we find the sensitive person complaining كثيرًا, irritated, feeling persecuted. He may also be one who reproaches a lot, investigates a lot, and thinks a lot about the meaning of people’s words, their intentions, and what is hidden behind their behaviors.
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The sensitive person may not tolerate people and may withdraw into himself. He may attribute this to an idealism that he believes in, which he does not see realized in the society around him.
[1] An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III in El-Keraza Magazine, Year Six, Issue Twelve, March 21, 1975.
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