Thursday; July 21

Have you ever heard of the expression, “being thin skinned”? Have you ever thought about where that comes from? I hadn’t really given it much thought until after my heart issue a few years back. I don’t know if it was because of my age or some of the medication I am taking but it seems like I am more susceptible to cuts and scratches these days. What would merely be a white mark on my arms and legs a few years ago draws blood today. No, it doesn’t really hurt, it is just much more evident. Now, let’s go back to the original thought – being thin-skinned is the tendency to show our emotions more quickly than others. I don’t know that it is good or bad (there are a lot of us who struggle because we bury our emotions so deeply that we end up causing long term issues); but it is something we need to understand about ourselves. People who are thin-skinned may need to be a little more prepared for how they deal with things than others. Because we tend to wear our emotions on our sleeves, we may need to work harder to “respond” rather than “react” to situations. We may need to be aware of how disappointments manifest themselves in our facial expressions. We may need to add an extra second or two before we verbally relate our feelings. Being sensitive to outside influences isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but if we are going to work in certain professions or strive to be leaders, we need to plan for the reality of opposition.

Are you thin-skinned? How can you prepare yourself for the scrapes life will surely bring your way?

Think About It!

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