The Sensitive Warriors

How many times has someone said to you? You’re over sensitive when it comes to animals. How many times have people told you to stop being so sensitive? Well, firstly, if you’re not sensitive when it comes to cruelty, that either makes you a robot or a sadist. And stopping yourself from being sensitive, is like trying to change your eye color! Nope, funny that, no matter how many times you’re told not to be, it just stays the bloody same. A bottle of wine helps and sleep too!! Yes, they calm that sensitive beast within!!
You see, the world needs sensitive people. Highly sensitive people are empathetic. If you have empathy for another being’s struggle or suffering, you will move mountains for them. ‘I’ becomes the instrument of change for ‘them’. They get us out of our often self-defeating, selfish, obsessive, monkey minds! It’s a win-win. I constantly say this: having a self-less purpose not only enriches our lives but it is a remedy for much mental conflict. Friendships and relationships also grow in the fertile garden that is charity or volunteering. And we all need more of them.
Before I got into rescuing, I can say I went through approximately twenty outfit changes a day. I was consumed with ‘nothing being good enough’ and the goal posts constantly moved from one ‘must have purchase’ to another to fulfill a hungry part of me. It turns out I was feeding that part the wrong diet all along; a bigger hunger was being created. One called ‘what is the point?’ The constant search in shops and lifestyle was futile.
Rescuing animals is not for everyone. But there are many other types of rescuing. And when we reach out to help others, we are helping ourselves.
Today, I was consumed by self-pity. I had an MRI on Thursday. When I went in, the nurse prepping me wasn’t the nicest. When she brought me back to the changing room after the scan, she was suddenly kind and empathetic. That worried me more, so I asked her, what did you see? And she smiled, ‘it’s pretty big, Catriona, but the radiologist will read it!’ Yes, today I was consumed with fear, self-pity and the worry about what happens next. Another argument stemming from being overly sensitive didn’t help either. In fact it hurts terribly. Yes HSPs (highly sensitive people) are not the easiest to be with. But it’s not a choice nor is it an illness.
So today I climbed out of my ‘pity cave’ and I went to Pet Stop. I bought haylage and drove to the motorway ponies that deserve to feel sorry for themselves. Their lives are bleak, their field is flooded and they are very hungry. It’s not the easiest task cutting open haylage on a motorway. You kind of have to hold tight onto the plastic that needs to come off. I’ve learned my lesson! But out of my ‘bouncing back’ came ‘bellies less hungry’.
And then you get back into your car, turn on the radio and hear about a mum of three that will never go home; you hear about three teenagers crushed queuing for a disco who will never say the words Mommy or Daddy again. Then you realise whether you are highly sensitive or not, you are blessed with being alive today. My heart goes out to the families who have lost loved ones.

*This week so much thanks to Rhona at An Cat Dubh for taking in two house cats into an already full rescue. Thanks to Martina at BabyDog Rescue for getting our two chained dogs to safety and happiness. Thanks to Fiona Killion who yet again undertakes another auction for rescues.