Daily Prompt: Super Sensitive

If you were forced to give up one sense, but gain super-sensitivity in another, which senses would you choose?

I am well aware that the daily prompt is actually speaking of our five senses; however I feel the need to stray from subject slightly in light of the issues that are being dealt with in Colorado right now.

I am actually going to be writing more about giving vs. receiving and how sensitive some of us are. I truly believe that “sensitivity” should be a sense since some of have so much more than others. Exactly as some of us have better vision, better hearing, have a more enlightened since of taste, touch and smell, some of are more sensitive, have more empathy and are more concerned about others.

For instance, I called a friend in Longmont, CO over the weekend to see how they had fared the floodwaters and if she needed any help. She was extremely grateful that I called and expressed her surprise at how I was the ONLY one who had called her despite the large number of people who know that she lives in Longmont, CO and the national news regarding the plight of the people in that community, as well as many others in Northern Colorado.

Do we simply not care about other people anymore? Are we so wrapped up in our own lives that we can’t take a moment to check on other people? It made me very sad to know that she had received no other calls….

How many times have you made a dinner for a friend in need, never to have it reciprocated? Now, I do what I do because I want to, but a small gesture back would be appreciated, unless of course, they simply don’t care. They know that I will do it and don’t feel the need to do anything nice in return, EVER!! The joys of the sense of SENSITIVITY!

How many times have you decided to throw a party? You send out dozens of invitations and maybe five people respond. I really don’t mind if they can’t make the party, I would simply like the courtesy of a response so that it doesn’t come down to the last moment and you still have no idea if anyone is going to show, as you wait with piles of food and appetizers to please your wayward party goers. Do they ask you back to their house; do they apologize for not responding, do they even acknowledge or understand that the mere moment it would have taken them to respond to the invitation would have taken the pressure off and allowed you to plan the menus more efficiently? SENSITIVITY is definitely a cumbersome sense to have to deal with!

How many times have you called a friend, over and over again, but they NEVER make the gesture to call you. Do they not realize that phones work both ways and that perhaps you would like them to actually call YOU once in a while. Instead, I sit there wondering what I have done wrong…. Why they don’t call… Why they don’t care…. Ahhhhhh, SENSITIVITY!

How about when you are trying to have a conversation with your child or your spouse and they simply don’t respond. Can they even hear you speaking? Do they care that you may like some slight gesture that they heard you or perhaps even feign some interest in what you are saying? I find it hard to believe that one would think it acceptable to simply not respond, even if it is only a “grunt” to acknowledge the sound of my voice. And then the SENSITIVITY sense kicks in and soon the CRYING sense may kick in, as well.

I realize that all of this has definitely strayed from the plight of the flood victims, it just simply brought so many other issues to mind when I think about the “new normal” that all of those people are going to have to learn to live with in the coming days, months and years. And I wonder how many people will continue to care once the news coverage ends. How alone are those people going to feel because most of us are too busy to think about how our actions affect the SENSITIVITY of others?

Just think about it for a little while. When was the last time you reached out to someone in need or thought about how your actions, or inaction’s, may affect someone else? Just because you don’t have a heightened sense of SENSITIVITY doesn’t mean that it is okay for you to ignore those of that do.

Which one are you? Do you have the sense of SENSITIVITY and is that the one sense that you feel you could do without? Or without it would you cease to be the kind, caring and sensitive person you are?

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/09/16/daily-prompt-sensitive/