Has anyone ever told you that you’re “too sensitive” or “too emotional”?
Do you feel anxious in crowds?
Do you feel drained when you spend time around certain people?
Do you need time alone to feel better?
Do you crave being out in nature?
If you’re answering “Yes”, then maybe, like me, you’re an empath.
Everybody has the ability to be empathetic…but not everybody is an empath.
To be empathic is to be able to understand the feelings of another …to put yourself in their shoes so to speak.
But, if you are an empath, you actually feel another person’s feelings in your own body as if they are your own.
Being an empath is a super power….it can also be very confusing and very painful, especially when you aren’t aware that you are an empath. It certainly was for me.
I’m a highly intuitive empath and as a little girl, I felt deeply the pain, sadness, fear, shame, guilt, anger and frustration of those around me.
I didn’t like feeling those feelings inside me. So, as a child, not understanding that I was feeling someone else's feelings and that I wasn’t responsible for the feelings of others….. I went into superhero mode. I tried to save the world around me.
Maybe you can relate.
I tried to cheer the sadness away….
I tried to comfort the pain, quiet the fear, and calm the anger.
I became everybody’s caretaker….everybody’s nurturer.
I became a people pleaser. Which led me to becoming everybody’s victim.
Instead of taking responsibility for their own feelings and emotions, I became the family sponge to ease their pain.
It was innocent enough.
It comes from ignorance…not stupidity…ignorance.
To be ignorant is to not know or not understand
while to be stupid is when we know and understand but we still choose to do it anyway.
As a child, we don’t know and most of us were born into families that also don’t know.
It’s really hard when you’re an empath to distinguish your feelings from someone else's.
Without knowing you’re an empath and without proper tools ... .it's impossible.
I still have to remind myself who I am, to know if what I am feeling is mine.
I am full of love, peace, joy, abundance and happiness.
Anytime I feel something outside of that, I ask myself first, “is this mine?”
If it’s mine, I dig deep for the root and heal it.
And if it’s not mine, I release it with love.
This is why it’s so important to know yourself.
Know how your energy feels.
Know who you are, so that you can go to your own center and not be knocked around continuously by other people's energies and the energy in your environment.
As empaths we naturally want to help people in pain…it’s why we are here.
However, when we get sucked into the role of victim….meaning trying to help those who truly don’t want our help…not only are we not helping another, but we are also hurting ourselves.
Think of a disempowered empath like a sponge.
We easily absorb the filth and grime all around us through our porous fields…..leaving us holding all that toxicity within our own bodies.
It takes a huge toll on our central nervous system. So many physical ailments can be linked to damage to our energy fields and most of the time we don’t know there is a problem until the symptoms become unavoidable.
Taking on other people's pain in my own body for over 4 decades eventually caused health issues so severe that I couldn’t take care of my most basic needs.
Again, it is so hard to know how your own body feels when it’s full of so many other people’s pain and emotions.
Every time an empath walks by someone, we take in a piece of their pain.
Is it any wonder why we feel anxious and overwhelmed in a crowd?
Or why an empath needs a lot of time alone and especially loves being outside in nature?
It makes so much sense, doesn’t it?
I LOVED playing outside as a child…..I still do.
I needed time alone as a child….I still do.
I struggled with certain foods as a child….I still do.
I struggled with certain fabrics as a child…I still do.
I got migraines from certain smells as a child…I still do.
Can you relate?
Are you your family’s sponge?
Family sponges also cope through behaviors our society labels as…..anxiety, depression, oppositional defiant disorder, attention deficit disorder….and many others.
All coping mechanisms children who are empaths develop to survive their world have negative impacts on their health. Whether it’s people pleasing or being defiant…these behaviors are a cry for help from a highly sensitive, mislabeled, superhero in training.
Whether you are an adult empath who is struggling to heal from the effects of living on this planet without proper tools or a young child empath coping the only way you know how….there is hope.
Your life can improve dramatically. It takes time to gather resources and make adjustments, but you can live a pain free life and still mingle in the world and feel like you belong.
There are truckloads of information about empaths on the world wide web.
Allow yourself to follow your own spidey senses to what’s best for you.
If you would like my help, I am happy to share my wisdom with you as well.
Just reach out to me on any of my platforms.
We’re all in this together.
I long for the day when I , as a powerful empath, feel the love, peace and joy of others instead of only their pain.
Until next time, be gentle with yourself and remember, you are so much more than you have allowed yourself to believe.