Lifestyle

4 Ways A Neurotic Mind Helps You Lead A More Meaningful Life

by Meredith L. Brown

Neurosis is described by Dictionary.com as:

A functional disorder in which feelings of anxiety, obsessional thoughts, compulsive acts and physical complaints without objective evidence of disease, in various degrees and patterns, dominate the personality.

A number of incidents today can make a person neurotic.

Test scores are breeding perfectionist children, who later turn into obsessive adult perfectionists, who don’t think their “best” is ever enough.

We now have a generation of people believing they have no self-worth unless they are perfect.

This has caused people to become “neurotic,” or be labeled as such. Their brains are constantly filled with thoughts, and their feelings and emotions are permanently heightened.

Neurotic people are seen as unstable, crazy and unrealistic.

Workplaces don’t hire them because neuroticism is a crippling trait.

People don’t date them because they are seen as “obsessive.”

Friends talk about them behind their backs, as if they weren’t friends at all.

I've been labeled a “neurotic” person my entire life.

After years of trying to change it and researching hundreds of ways to deal with the stress, the fears and the compulsive thoughts that cage me in, I've accepted it's who I am.

And every day, I become more proud I'm “neurotic” (as some people label me) because being a “neurotic” person makes you different in so many meaningful ways:

1. You love harder.

You fall in love faster, you become more attached and your relationships mean something to you.

You aren’t willing to let time, space, fights or outside opinions get in the way. You are faithful.

You accept another person’s mistakes. You work through the hard times because you feel love deeper.

What others see as obsessive is actually just a love stronger than what most people are able to understand. Your unwavering love (or obsession with the feeling) is strange to most.

Like anything else in life, you will put thought and love into every relationship until you are 100 percent sure of it.

And that is something most people can’t say they've done.

2. You follow your gut.

Because your emotions are intensified, your ability to understand them and react upon them in situations is better than others.

While many people “think about it” or “sleep on it,” you act on how you feel, the moment you feel it.

You listen to the harmonious voices of your heart and your gut.

You get to have those fairytale scenarios with a love, and incredible memories you'll share with your grandkids because you take action.

You make fate happen.

3. You are highly motivated.

People think you worry too much and stress about everything. You can’t be trusted in high-stress scenarios, so you are always given the “easy alternative.”

Being compulsive, always thinking and being stressed actually makes you successful. Many people can deal with stress, and because they can deal with stress better than you do, they can let it build up before they get to work.

You don't. Any small pang of stress pushes you into motion to solve the problem or get the work done.

Think about it: Your boss gives you assignments because he knows for a fact you're going to get it done, and it's going to be done to his expectations.

People trust you with more responsibilities and intense situations because they know you'll have to relieve the stress.

You will act, and it will be well-calculated, good work.

4. You are conscious of other people’s feelings.

Because you're so in touch with your feelings and your emotions (both good and bad), you “get people.”

You feel their pain just as if it was your own.

You think through how your actions will affect other people.

You are the person people come to with those stories they end by saying, “Does that sound crazy?” They do this because they know you will never say yes.

They know you, out of anyone, will be able to understand any emotion or scenario they're facing.

Your constant worrying, compulsive actions and obsessive thoughts make you that one person who will understand, when they can’t even come to terms with the emotion themselves.

5. You understand the implications of your actions.

Since you're so easily affected by other’s actions emotionally, and because things bother you more than the average person, you carefully think through everything you do.

People might say you try too hard to calculate or understand everything, but you're actually taking the time to think about how your actions will affect someone else, or another event.

What many people have made routine, you continue to look for improvement.

You want to make things have less of a negative impact on yourself or another person. You are forward thinking. You are proactive, not reactive.

6. You care about the seemingly unimportant things.

Successful businesses are not made by making big changes, but by making constant, small changes. While other people at work would skimp on the busy work or dismiss things as “unimportant,” you see everything as important.

Your commitment to the “unimportant” things over time will set you apart from others.

You don’t let things slip through the cracks, and this will allow you to achieve more than the people who don’t care. Your boss will notice this trait, and so will people outside of work.

You will be trusted with greater responsibilities, bigger challenges and meaningful things because people know you not only care about the big picture, but every little thing that goes into it.

So, to all the “neurotic” people out there: You aren’t crazy.

You will have a more successful work life.

You will love and will be loved incomparably, and you will remain true to your heart and soul.

You will be remembered as a good friend, and you will be trusted beyond compare.

You will have more memorable moments than the average, less “stressed,” less “obsessed,” less “worried” person will ever have.