Stop and think before you label yourself as being the “common denominator” in most situations. Instead, ask yourself, “am I outnumbered by people who don’t really get me?” More often than not, we try to explain ourselves to people who frustrate us because deep down, we know they aren’t really listening to our heart. You know how I know that? First, because I sit with countless people who are in therapy because they are constantly triggered by the people that are closest to them. Second, as an intuitive counselor I know that setting boundaries with family and people who aren’t good for you is the quickest way to determine that there is nothing wrong with you. And the reason why people like you and I understand the need to be heard is because our high sensitivity was cultivated as a result of needing affirmation when small while still seeking it from the same type of people who can’t give it now.

Your passion for depth and being understood became the reason why you tolerate those who can’t deal with their own mixed messages and default to “let things go”. Maybe you were told to be more like them, but struggle with parts of you that feel like they never could. That’s actually a win in your favor because that curiosity and compassion can be funneled back to your drives which might be deeper than most. Recognize your audience; if their eyes glaze over after your intuitive summation, the problem isn’t you, it’s them. Unfortunately, that’s an old message from childhood that tells you to prove yourself among a group of closed-minded people. If you do not recognize that your frustrations came from your family because they didn’t have time to hear your input, you continue to expect others to be just as hardheaded and dismissive as they were. The family of origin is always where we get our first programming for relating to the world and reframing our connection to both, will relieve the frustration of being “unknown”. Every one of us wants to be known for our special insight we bring to a situation. Some would rather deny that need and make you question yourself because you refuse to.

You long to redeem your insignificance from childhood by consistently trying to win over similar simpletons in adulthood so a storybook ending can replace the old ex-communicating narrative. If anything is common it is the people who surround you, and that you can change by removing their feedback, opinions, or responses by limiting interaction with them. You may not have had a choice about who you were surrounded by in your childhood home, and parts of you may still be stuck in those experiences, but, who you are today becomes a choice when you reparent the younger parts of you with validation that they are far more brilliant than the average person who goes along with the group-think.

If anyone needs to be labeled the “common denominator”, let it be the population at large who quotes cliches and fears expressing their feelings, those who agree with the 99 and miss the 1 who is honest. That transparency is a gift my friend, you defy popularity because you long to vibrantly live, you just have to see that you are already outside of the box and quite uncommon. That denominates you as set-apart and free from my standpoint, but then again I am one in the same.