Nobel Prize winner, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was a pastor and a civil rights activist. He spread his message of equality through nonviolent resistance and peaceful protest against discrimination during the late 50’s and 60’s. He led a march of 250,000 people in Washington, D.C. culminating in his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. His impact during his short 39-year life was so powerful that beginning in 1986, our country set aside a day, making it a holiday, to celebrate his accomplishments.
Dr. King was a highly sensitive person. His voice was his power.
We can’t all be another Dr. King. But we share a forceful and energetic trait in his HSP voice. With that voice, we are able to deliver potent messages to counter the disingenuousness that pervades today’s society. Your voice, too, can be an instrument for positive change.
What are the qualities that make your voice so unique in a world filled with so many disparate and destructive voices and actions?
Conscientiousness
First and foremost is your conscientiousness spurred on by your reflective quality. You think deeply on issues and consequences. Your sense of fairness and justice come from this reflective action. As you reflect, your empathy and compassion parse out the self-absorbed rhetoric from what is honest and sincere. Your sense of fair play kicks in and spurs your emotional reactivity. You become angered by all the wrongdoing present in our world. This affects whatever causes are dear to your heart.
A Clear Voice of Reason
Given enough emotional reactivity, your innovation and creativity begin to brew. We have vivid imaginations fueled by the nervous system energy a highly sensitive nature generates. Our perceptions are heightened because we are constantly taking in information from our environment and trying to make sense of it. This builds a finely tuned intuition. Our sensory and intellectual insights induce a wide array of solutions. Often these solutions are new, or a combination of previously unconnected ideas.
Building a Better World
We notice subtleties and even the smallest detail. This gives us a grasp of the ways in which we can build a better world. We are able to connect with people in deep and meaningful ways. Making use of both of these qualities, we produce blueprints for positive change.
Although there are extroverted HSPs, most of us are introverted. This can make it uncomfortable to let our voices be heard. Conflict and violence, due to our highly sensitive nervous systems, makes us overstimulated and anxious. These two points, if we let them, can silence our voices. But we must combat the instinct to retreat within ourselves every moment.
The world needs your voice. Let the power of your words be the wisdom the world is so waiting on. Proclaim your well-thought-out answers at the most significant time, this very moment. Speak to be heard. Allow your voice to ring above the din of egotistical verbosity that takes us in the wrong direction.
In his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Dr. King said, “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.” Take these words to heart. They are your catalyst to speak up for change.
Copyright 2022, Monica Nelson
