An Intuitive Child's Authenticity

“You can’t go around being what everyone wants you to be, living your life through other people’s rules, and expect to be happy and have inner peace.” –Dr. Wayne Dyer

I remember what it was like to struggle as an intuitive young person. In an excerpt from Raising Intuitive Children, a book Caron and I co-authored, I recall an example of how as an intuitive person, I was viewed by my peers and what the world around me felt like.

“As an intuitive high school student, I always felt different from the other kids I went to school with. I was disappointed when I sensed a student being fake or inauthentic. I had an uncanny way of knowing when other students were gossiping or being cruel to myself or others. I quickly learned I wasn’t able to conform to one of the “cliques,” which often left me feeling like an outcast. I became an easy target for being picked on because I didn’t have the ability to change my personality. High school was an emotionally challenging time for my intuitive style.

“I also recall a time when girlfriends of mine were cruel to me. I remember being the target of a Halloween prank during my junior year of high school; when several girls decided it would be funny to egg me in the face at point blank range. What hurt most was that the one I thought was one of my best friend’s was part of the cruelty. Is this what having friends is like?”

Such incidences of bullying are common for intuitive and sensitive children and teens, even adults. The truth is we can only be authentic and true to our nature, because that’s all an intuitive child knows how to be; cruelty is a learned behavior.

In my next post, I will share how my intuitive tween aged son has struggled remaining true to his authentic self in a middle school setting.