Life as an empath

I strive to understand others. To build a sense of community by taking on roles of service like sheltering, repairing and otherwise aiding people around me. I treat my friends like family. I think how different we all are is why we are all awesome. It's a peaceful zen way to live most of the time. The chaotic spectrum of my point of view are the empathy pains. Others of the Empath persuasion may feel coherence in their heart with me on this one. In an effort to bring joy and light and healing to others we also take on the pains and discomforts and energy drains of the situations we are resolving. I think the story of the rag man stuck with me throughout life because I identified with it. There is no good or bad in this, only seeing it for what it is. Taking the time to recharge my life force, or my batteries you could say, has been very beneficial to the maintenance of this way of life. I have accepted who I am, and I love myself for being that person. This tale has been a reflection of but a fraction of the totality of me. One thing I like to remind myself about community is that how I treat others is in direct relation to how I treat myself. This connection is expressed when I am treating myself well and it's easy to treat others with patience and kindness. In true reality (the one you can't see or measure) you and I are one. We are different iterations of the same base equation, we came out of the same ether of stardust. What I do to you, I do to myself, what you do to me, you do to yourself. When I ponder this I feel good bliss about all the things I've done for others, but a slight darkness hangs over the times where I've had to provide tough love, and decline to take on situations that might render me too weak to maintain my center. I remember that always wanting to help is just who I am. It's okay to make sure I'm taken care of so that I remain able to help my community thrive. Sometimes all we have to spare is a smile and a kind word, but once we have strengthened our own foundations we then will have the ability to support others in times of need.