Once you learn what it means to be an empath, it’s easier to cope with and use it for good.
God has been revealing things to me, about me. Maybe He’ll use this to reveal something to you, about you, too.
For as far back as I can remember, I was the girl who wanted to help everyone. I wanted to make the world a better place and make life a bit easier for the next person. It’s so natural and embedded in me that to ignore it would be criminal.
I always had a strong sense of empathy for people but it wasn’t until recent years that I am learning just how deep that empathy goes. It’s not your average compassion or sensitivity. It’s an absorption of the emotions of other people right into my body. The more I learn about this phenomenon, the more I realize how much it really affects me.
There’s a difference between having empathy and being an empath. I’m an empath. That doesn’t mean I’m psychic or anything like that. While having empathy is a foundational aspect of being human by being able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and have compassion, being an empath goes deeper than that.
An empath is a person who is highly sensitive to the emotions and energy of others to the point where they have an innate ability to absorb and feel them on a deep, intuitive level. Because this heightened sense of emotion is so strong, they feel them as if they were their own and their body reacts accordingly.
I am super sensitive to the most subtle ways of communicating such as facial expressions, the tone of someone’s voice, the pattern of someone’s texts, and body language. I can hear what people don’t say.
It wasn’t until recently that I learned being an empath impacts my body through fatigue, depression, light and noise sensitivity, and an aversion to large groups (at least for long periods). My threshold for sensory overload is very low.
Looking back, it explains so much about myself and why I am the way I am. I don’t like leaving the house because of sensory overload. I still DO leave the house, but leaving drains me in ways I can’t fully explain. Being on the road with inconsiderate drivers and getting overwhelmed in the giant grocery store where people are often in a hurry and only looking out for themselves—it all drains me.
Being an empath and all it entails impacts me and my daily life and it’s something I’d love to talk more about moving forward. Do you think this is something you can relate to and would like to hear more about? I would like to share more specific examples and also the tools I’m learning to help me thrive as an empath rather than be crippled by it.
I have this tendency to take on other people’s feelings on certain issues because I gain an understanding of why they feel that way and then I end up losing myself and my way just a bit. Do that over and over and I’m way off course in my personal growth and I don’t even recognize myself. It sounds crazy, right?! But it is very real.
I want to share how God wants to use this to bless others rather than feel like it’s a curse. I’m rather excited about it!
Do you think you might be an empath, too?
