Embracing Your MenPathic Superpowers
HOW TO BECOME YOUR OWN SUPERHERO
From victim to superhero
In my opinion, there is a tendency for MenPaths to initially become trapped in a cycle of victimization.
Although it’s normal to feel that our unique emotional and sensory sensitivities set us up for being misunderstood by others, I believe it’s critical that we take on the responsibility to fully embrace our traits, learn everything we can about them, and, by so doing, become our own superheroes.
If you read nothing else, read this:
“Complaining about your limitations gets you nowhere.
“No one is going to save you or come to your rescue. No one will completely understand you because only you have that innate ability.
“By doing the work to embrace your superpowers, you’re putting yourself back in control and can transform your daily experience from victim to superhero.”
Sometimes, we feel victimized by our MenPathic traits
Millions of men have spent their lives hearing parents, friends, and mentors say:
“Man up, buddy.”
“Stop being so sensitive, bro.”
“Get over it, will ya?”
For empaths and HSPs, it’s not that easy. MenPaths feel bombarded by environmental stimuli and need time to process it all. We’re not weird; we’re men whose nervous systems are wired differently from most others.
Our sensory nervous system contain mirror neurons that, while aren’t necessarily higher in number than in our non-MenPathic brothers, they differ in that they are more active.
Researchers writing in the July 2014 edition of Brain and Behavior concluded that the portions of our brains that process emotion and social data are more active on brain scans.
“HSPs were associated with stronger activation of brain regions involved in awareness, empathy, and self-other processing.
As Andre Sólo writes in an article in Psychology Today:
“For some less sensitive people, tuning out others is easy. But for an HSP, almost everything about the brain is wired around noticing and interpreting others.”
The cumulative effects of this brain activity can be a bit much, resulting in fatigue and feeling like our brains are full. This usually necessitates solo time for recovery and recharging.
The 3 Steps to Embrace Your Superpowers
Read authoritative books on the traits—this one step can answer many of your recurring questions.
The Empath’s Survival Guide by Judith Orloff, MD
The Highly Sensitive Person by Elain Aron, PhD
Awakened Empath: The Ultimate Guide to Emotional, Psychological and Spiritual Healing by Aletheia Luna and Mateo Sol
Journal your way to a deeper understanding of your traits—Engaging in a journaling practice can lead to deeper levels of understanding and self-acceptance. I'll let you know more about that soon.
Keep reading The Sensitive Superhero! - to gain insight into how I live day-to-day as a MenPath and the challenges and solutions I deem most helpful.
I don’t have all the answers, but I have put in the deeper work of embracing my MenPathic traits. That has made all the difference for me, and I invite you to do the same.