I don’t have mystical or psychic abilities but I
possess qualities that would identify me as an empath.
At church, when I greeted people, I surveyed their faces.
Was there sadness or fatigue in the eyes? Were there worried frowns behind the
smiles? Or were they masking everything over? When I shook their hands, I noted
the strength in the grip, the temperature, and whether they had a wedding band.
If I hugged someone I gauged their vitality and shared some of mine with
them. I listened to the tone of voice
and I paid attention to the nuance of their words. I did a quick survey from
head to foot. I saw tattoos, jewelry, and state of dress. It's not that I cared how well they dressed--I was
looking for signs as to how they were.
I did this outside of church, too, at restaurants and the
grocery store. There were often many
encounters within a short amount of time.
Once, someone accompanied me to the Walmart and commented later, “Within
fifteen minutes you met with eight people, all of whom told you significant things
about themselves.” That was normal for me.
I absorb people’s feelings. I feel their sadness and
pain. I enjoy their happiness, too, but mostly I feel the angst. When I visited the hospitals, I often felt
their symptoms while I was with patients.
Sometimes, especially at funerals, I'd get overwhelmed when I stood in front of a crowd and felt their collective vulnerabilities and it would all slam into me as I gathered my thoughts.
I’ve done this all my life and it helped me be a good
minister. Nobody forced this on me. It’s
who I am and what I do. But there were
periods when it all bore down on me like a great weight, and it would feel like
any minute my knees would give out and I’d crumble to the floor. I don’t think people
noticed except maybe other empaths. I could hide it because I was cheerful and talkative, but inside I was wearing out.
