Friday, December 16

Tripping on my own Empathy

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Being a sensitive person is a good thing. I didn't used to think so. I used to think that being sensitive was a weakness. I felt it made me too vulnerable. It didn't serve me.

Or so I thought.

Then I grew to appreciate my sensitivity. I saw it as an asset. I noticed things and felt things that other people didn't necessarily experience and that made me a more complete human being.

But where that sensitivity still trips me up is when I am too susceptible to the emotional states of those around me and subsequently take their feelings on as my own. If the person I'm with is anxious, I start to feel their anxiety. If they're sad, I get melancholy. If they're elated...well, thank god, because then I'm thrilled!

So again I guess it's a question of balance. I want to maintain my ability to be sensitive to others' emotional states...but I want to stay with my own experience independent of theirs. How do I care about them without caring too much?

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