Empaths are experts at hiding our true selves.
We sit through violent movies with friends and try to act like it's all fine, but end up having nightmares about it later.
We stand up to bullies at school for other kids, making ourselves the target. And we try to act like it's not affecting us, but it's traumatizing. But we'd rather be the focus of the bully than allow another kid that we think can't take it be the one taking all the abuse.
We go to work and we are afraid of showing our sensitivity in the corporate world, because, after all, it's "dog eat dog," and sensitivity is seen as weakness. But we come home after being in that environment for an entire day and absorbing everyone else's emotions and we fall in bed, unable to process any more of it.
Sometimes we need whole weekends to try to recover from all that we are sensing and picking up. So we avoid answering texts or phone calls. We make up flimsy excuses for why we can't go hang out with friends or family, when the truth is that our nervous system is so freakin overloaded that we need to shut everyone and everything out. One more bit of stimulation might just blow our whole system.
But we hide this, or we try to. Of course, all of that hiding who we truly are and what we are truly feeling turns into depression, anxiety, headaches, stomach aches, shoulder pain, and so much more. Pushing it in isn't a solution; it will come out one way or another.
The only way forward is to be who we truly are, and feel pride in our sensitivity. Feeling other's emotions and pain and still being able to carry on through the day is a super-power. Feeling all of that and being able to help people is amazing.
Empaths are badasses.
Take that belief into your soul, and forget about anything anyone else has every told you. You are a badass.
Want to find out how strong of an empath you are, and how much it affects your life on a day-to-day basis? Take my empath test now.