Being an empath is not an easy road. You will always feel a little different from others and you can’t ever fully understand why you sometimes feel the way you do. It is only when you begin to comprehend what being an empath is that you will find peace. Then, once you understand, being an empath becomes a powerful asset in your life.
Before empathy can become your superpower, you must learn how to tame it to function when you want and need it to.
What Is an Empath?
An empath is someone who instinctively understands what others are feeling and even thinking. They can see a situation from the other person’s point of view to the extent that they feel like it is happening to them.
This brings about some other interesting traits. Empaths are notorious human lie detectors. They immediately sense when a person is lying and can often sense what their character is like before even talking to them.
It also brings them pain because they don’t always know how to handle the information they receive. It just pours on, and an empath sees no reprieve from the assault of information.
This can lead to negative effects like depression or feelings that the empath just doesn’t belong. Sometimes, these surges of unwanted data can make an empath feel crazy. This is where some knowledge about the gift of empathy, and it is a gift is helpful.
What Is the Difference in Empathy and Sympathy?
The two are closely related but do have some differences. Empathy is when you literally feel what the other person is feeling. You feel like you can see straight into their heart, soul, and mind and have a true understanding of them without even knowing them.
Sympathy is feeling compassion for someone in their given situation but your remain an outsider. You still have an emotionally distant perspective and see things more objectively than if you were involved.
How Do You Know If You Are an Empath?
There are tell-tale signs that people are empaths. Below is a list of clues.
- Deeply sensitive and sometimes called overly sensitive.
- A passionate desire to always help others.
- You don’t like a lot of external stimuli and get emotional when you must be in a large group of people.
- You pick up on others’ vibes, body language, and voice tones easily to understand their feelings behind what they are saying.
- You can be anxious and easily startled.
- Sometimes, you are depressed.
- People call you a deep thinker and sometimes you overanalyze.
- You have a creative side and are highly intuitive.
- You seek the truth and can spot a lie easily.
So, are you an empath? Understanding this part of yourself is the first step to handling the downside of this gift. You are different from others, but that isn’t a bad thing. You have an important gift. Now, you just need to learn how to use it.
How Do You Deal with Being an Empath?
Having an empath ability can be tiring because you always feel like others’ feelings and thoughts are rushing at you. Be sure to take some time out to be alone and be quiet to reduce the stimuli.
Try to focus on one or two people when you are in a large crowd and learn to “tune out” all the others so you aren’t overstimulated.
Things like yoga, meditation, prayer, and plenty of healthy exercises will also balance out your empath abilities with the rest of your brain and spirit. Learn to control your empath superpower and make it your ally rather than it is controlling you and making you its prisoner.
