I got 99 Problems, and 89 of them belong to other people - #EMPATH

          

This week, I am going to make you W.O.R.K – I mean, come on, I can’t be the only one around here having all of the fun now can I?

 A few weeks ago I mentioned to my therapist:

“Now, I may be going out on a limb here and self diagnosing myself but I need your opinion and advice on this…I feel there may be times where I feel “too deeply”, and get “too invested” in something. I feel at times, overloaded, and     that I feel things “too deeply” It can be a movie or TV show, or a particular book I   am reading. I feel connected to the characters in the story, and it’s as if I am  going through whatever they are going through. I get attached, I get upset, I get invested – and it’s all make believe, not real, and I know that’s the case BUT I still can’t turn off the feelings. Sometimes, I feel crazy for crying at the end of a good book, not wanting it to end, and talking myself out of writing a letter to the     author begging for a sequel.”

She then responded:

“There’s no diagnosis here, but you are indeed an EMPATH. For homework this week, take a look into what an Empath is and report back to me next week on   your findings.”

Well, I take my homework very seriously…(I mean, I should have doing homework perfected by now as I have been in school for more than half of my life, and more than I’d like to admit. But who’s counting? Me, it’s me I’m counting. May cannot come soon enough!

I dove headfirst into an article that I found on Healthline.com (linked below, way down at the bottom!). The article was titled, “15 Signs You Might Be an Empath” written by Chrystal Raypole and medically reviewed by Timothy J. Legg – which consisted of 15 signs and explanations of what it means to be an Empath.

Before we can jump into the signs, it is important to know what an Empath is. Dr. Judith Orloff describes being an Empath as: “those who absorb the world’s joys and stresses like emotional sponges” Well, call me SpongeBob Squarepants because ya girl is a yellow colored empathetic sponge!

Now, before you go ahead and read the 15 signs, I want you to grab a pen and paper and mark down how many of the 15 you score. I scored 15, but that’s not really a shocker on this side of the computer screen! You can comment below, keep it to yourself, or do whatever you want with your score.

You have a lot of Empathy 

Closeness and Intimacy can overwhelm you. 

You have good intuition 

You take comfort in nature

You don’t do well in crowded places

You have a hard time not caring

People tend to tell you their problems

You have a high sensitivity so sounds, smells, or sensations

You need time to recharge

You don’t like conflict

You often feel you don’t fit in

You tend to isolate

You have a hard time setting boundaries

You see the world in unique ways

You sometimes find it tough to cope with sensory/emotional overload. 

Sometimes the thought of empathy, and the fact that I am indeed a true Empath is frustrating  - because at times I wish I could turn it off. I wish I didn’t care as much, I wish I could say no as easily as others, I wish I could take a moment to recharge myself and get myself back on track instead of worrying about putting everyone else back on track. But, in the end, being an Empath and having empathy for those around you, makes you even more special. It means you have the ability to sit outside of yourself, and see/value others around you and what they’re feeling. It means you have a different way to view the world around you, which is unique and pretty awesome. On the other end, it also means that regardless of how your feeling, you take care of others around you – or you tend to isolate from the ones who are drawn to you, or maybe you just feel like you don’t and cant fit in. Being an Empath is a blessing and a curse, but EMBRACE the EMPATHY within you.

If you want to read more on the signs of being an Empath, please click the following link where I found all of my information!

https://www.healthline.com/health/what-is-an-empath