What is an empath?

An empath is an extremely sensitive individual. Empaths are hard-wired to feel emotions. Short of drugs and alcohol, they can’t turn that sensitivity off.

Because empaths are sensitive, they feel their emotions with greater intensity than others. Empaths love deeper and hurt more than your average human peanut. What can seem like an annoying little emotional/psychological flee-bite to many can feel like a painful, poisonous wasp sting to an empath.

Because empaths feel with greater intensity, empaths are more susceptible to familial, social, and environmental toxicity than most others. What we call Toxic Socialization hits them much harder than most. A child environment that would be moderately debilitating to most people would be positively devastating to an empath. A workplace that is felt as “ignorably” toxic by many would be unbearable hell to an empath.

Because empaths are more susceptible to psychological, emotional, and physical toxicity than most, empaths are more susceptible to emotional and psychological disturbances. This is not a statement of their weakness. Hyper-sensitivity is the empath’s superpower and it allows them to do what they came here to do, which is heal others. It is simply a statement of cause and consequence. If you have a finely engineered, fancy and powerful sports car and you go driving that sports car through fields of muck and mud, you’ll probably kill the car, or seriously damage it. It is the same with empaths. If you take that powerful and divinely refined empathic apparatus and repeatedly drive it through the dirt and grime of human toxicity, you’ll kill, or seriously damage, the body. It’s just common sense.

Because empaths are more susceptible to emotional and psychological disturbance than most, empaths must be protected. They must be protected by the ones that love them (i.e., parents, spouses, etc.), and they must protect themselves. they must be given gentle and peaceful environments and their boundaries must be inviolable and strong. They should never be exposed to conflict, violence, and strife, ever. That is just not their thing. And just so you know, there is no such thing as a “warrior empath.” That is a flat-out contradiction in terms. Empaths never carry the warrior energy.

In this empath article series, I am going to explore empathy and, in particular, what needs to be done to protect the empath in life (hint, it’s all about strict boundaries). If you know an empath, or if you think you are an empath, take this advice seriously. The longer you live your life in denial of the reality of empathic realities, the longer you let others tell you how to create an empathically supportive life structure, the longer you, or someone you love, will silently suffer in pain.

Articles

What to do if you are an empath

by Mike Sosteric | Mar 1, 2018 | Articles, Empathy | 0 Comments

What is an empath and are you an adult empath? Find out for yourself what it is and what you can do to help yourself, your empathic spouse, and any empathic children in your care.

What to do if your spouse is an empath

by Mike Sosteric | Jul 25, 2016 | Articles, Empathy | 1 Comment

The truth is, we need empaths to heal the planet. The problem is, the current planetary situation is highly toxic to empaths. Empaths are vulnerable to conscious, unconscious, or “accidental” assault, from friends, family, coworkers, and (increasingly) total strangers and can easily be overwhelmed or even destroyed by the toxicity. However, it is not without hope. If you are the spouse, sibling, or friend of an empath there are things you need to know, and things you need to do, to help.