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Empaths and spiritual awakening
An empath is someone who is highly empathetic — there ability to “be in someone else’s shoes” is like a super power. This ability can have positives and negatives. If you intuitively know how someone is feeling within seconds of them walking into the room, that is highly empathic. The reverse is that you’re more vulnerable to being affected by others’ moods, opinions, and attitudes. Empaths are highly sensitive people. Sensitive meaning that they can have weaker skin (as a generalization), and their “instruments” of feeling are a lot more powerful. So there is both power and vulnerability in empathy.
Just because you’re empathic doesn’t mean you’ll be spiritually advanced. However, being empathic or cultivating the ability to feel radical empathy will assist anyone on a spiritual journey. On a spiritual journey, it’s important to see yourself in everyone; practicing empathy can help you cultivate this. Not all empaths are spiritually adept, but spiritually adept people are usually highly empathic. Empathy can be developed — always remember the growth mindset.
If someone is an empath, then they can learn when empathy is necessary, and when to stay out of someone’s emotional shoes — they can temper/refine the empathic ability. It’s like developing an on/off slider — becoming more flexible and adaptable.
If someone isn’t as aware of emotions or others’ feelings, then they can practice empathy:
“In my shoes, just to see, what it’s like, to be me. I’ll be you, let’s trade shoes, just to see what it’d be like to, feel your pain, you feel mine, go inside each other’s minds, just to see what we find, look at shit through each other’s eyes…” — Eminem
