Being an Empath: Gift or Curse?

Empathy is a great thing. It allows you to fully understand how another person feels so you can relate and offer support. However, I am talking about something else here. Living as an empath is entirely different, and I often wonder if it’s a gift or a curse.

What is an Empath?

A true empath is extremely sensitive to the energies of the universe and each other. We feel other people’s emotions as if they were our own. It can be confusing, powerful, and crushing at the same time.

Imagine you are in a great mood. The day is sunny and warm, just the way you like it. You decide to visit the mall. You stand in line at the register to buy something you really want, and you get in line behind an older adult who feels enormous regret, physical pain, and depression. Suddenly, you don’t feel so good. Your mind turns melancholy, and then you feel tired and sick to your stomach. You start to think about everything you wish you did or didn’t do in life. Now you don’t even want to stand in line, you don’t want to buy the thing in your hands, and you feel sucked into a deep depression. None of this was you; it was simply because you were near someone feeling all that emotion…