Being an empath is neither as complicated, nor as tragic, as most misguided posts will have you believe.

On the contrary, empathy is something that comes naturally to all normal humans. We feel. We share an emotional space with those around us, as much as we share a physical space.

The natural need to connect with others developed us in a way so we can feel what others feel. This helps us function as a unity rather than individually, and it helped us form societies.

There are a couple of myths about Empaths I see in many posts that are completely wrong!

There is one myth that being empathetic is like having superpowers.

The famously described Empath that most articles, even some of ours, describe is an extreme level of sensing emotions and energy. However, we can all sense emotions and energy to an extent.

The ability to be empathetic increases as the consciousness raises in an individual. As we grow and evolve spiritually we become more open to these subtle realities all around us.

But this is a concept that confuses many people who are, perhaps, not ready for the simplicity, yet enormity, of the step.

For example, some people think that empathy makes you volatile as a person.

The logic behind this, they say, is that when you are exposed to wild swings of emotion, you cannot help but become unstable under the influence. The reality is contrary to this.

It’s like saying that lifting heavier weights in the gym makes your muscles more unstable. Empathy helps you be more stable and firm, despite the heightened feelings. In fact, exactly that heightened weight of emotion builds the emotional muscle to be stronger.

Even when inexperienced so called empaths, go through rapid changes, they often channel these fluctuations to feed their creativity. If you’ve noticed, most artists are people who ‘feel’ the world around them a bit too much.

Another myth is that Empaths become so vulnerable, that they have to recede and become cold and unfeeling.

Empathy is like a door that opens your mind, and then keeps it open. No one who has seen the light on the other side, ever wants to close it.

Sometimes feeling too much might be overwhelming, but so do a lot of things that we keep on doing despite being overwhelmed. Heightened empathy is a natural outcome of spiritual evolution, it’s not an anomaly, or a switch that you can turn on and off when you want to.

Just like you did not recede from learning your language because you might become vulnerable for other people to hurt you with words, the same is with empathy. The more you become empathetic the more you can understand the emotions spoken.

Another famous myth associated with Empaths is that they become dependent on the people they draw from.

The truth could not be further away!

First of all, empaths share, not leech, from the people they are with. The connection is a flow of energy for both parties involved, not a drain.

Second, empaths do not need to feel, nor they need people so they can satisfy their feeling needs. They just have a heightened sense of feeling. If you have a heightened sense of smell you do not become dependent on the things that you smell.

There is a myth that Empaths need to push people away in order to not be drained emotionally.

Even though a heightened sense of feeling could benefit from having a couple of firm boundaries, it’s not necessary.

It doesn’t mean that people just want to use you. Most people you hang out with just want to be in your company, and those people can understand when you apply firm boundaries in your lifestyle. They will still be your friends, you don’t need to push people away.

After all, empathy is all about connections and bridges, not walls between people.