Category Archives: Empath

Defiant Multiple Sclerosis

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Anyone who knows me or has followed my blog for any length of time knows that I have lived with Multiple Sclerosis for more than half of my life. I know how ludicrous that sounds because it sounds like a very long time, which it has been. When you are diagnosed with an illness that does not have a cure when you are only 19 years old, it feels like a lifelong and evil punishment. Of course, I behaved like a typical, stubborn, hardheaded, and immature child and refused to accept what the doctors were saying about my reality and future. Unfortunately, I learned quickly that ignoring and avoiding the facts was not going to change what my life was going to include, and I had to deal with this diagnosis.

Over 20 years have passed since I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, and the one thing that has not changed is how defiant this disease can appear. Most days, the level of defiance can be ignored, but on other days, it is impossible to ignore. I used to think MS was as defiant as a toddler with terrible manners, of someone else who will throw a massive temper tantrum when things do not go their way. I understand this disease cannot think or be empathetic as it is just a disease. I know it does not behave with revenge, but it seems like it on the bad days. I will explain a few reasons why I used to believe all of this to be true.

First, one of the most frustrating issues is this disease is unpredictable. Issues like this can be exceptionally frustrating for anyone who prefers to have plans or make plans. It can help to understand the unpredictability and to plan accordingly. With this fact, it is always wise to have a backup plan, and even a backup plan for your backup plan. I realize how insane that might sound, but when I do not have things planned out, it causes me anxiety. Even though I might not always know when this disease will misbehave, I try to make sure that I have a plan, even when there must be multiple plans just in case!

Another part of living with this unpredictable and annoying disease is it does not matter what the season is, it takes my body too much time to adjust. With that said, anytime the seasons change from Spring to Summer, or Summer to Autumn, or Autumn to Winter, or Winter to Spring, I feel awful for at least a week, and sometimes longer. The season I tend to dread the most is Summer, but that is because I live in the south, and it gets way too HOT. Multiple Sclerosis and heat are not friends, but more like enemies.

One part of this disease that appears to be relentless is the pain I feel 24 hours a day. Some of this pain would be like a defiant toddler with no manners and can easily be ignored. Unfortunately, another type of pain I experience at least once a week is migraines. I am unable to ignore this type of pain. Migraines remind me of a defiant person that cannot be ignored because they will have a temper tantrum when you try. Anytime pain evades my head, I cannot deal with it, and make the other pain seem like a walk in the park.

Since being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis over 20 years ago, there have been a few things that cause me anxiety and fear. I realize that some of my fears are pointless to think about and not dwell on because I have made it this far without anything too awful happening. I have always been independent and do not want to rely on anyone to help me with simple things. As crazy as it sounds, I enjoy laundry and handling other household things. I remember hearing the doctor saying those words to me that I had Multiple Sclerosis, and my automatic fear was I would be in a wheelchair. I know that would not be the end of the world if it came to that, but I need to be free to take care of myself and go up and down the stairs.

I am sure there are some other things I forgot to mention in this post, but this is a lot to deal with. The weather is starting to make small changes to cooler weather, even in the south, so I am trying to be patient as my body adjusts. I might not be good at it, but I am trying my best to rest and relax before the week starts tomorrow. This weekend has been a blur because I have felt achy and exhausted all weekend. Of course, I rarely sleep in or take naps, but I am resting. It is nice to watch TV with the cats, and I have painted my nails😊!

Thank you for stopping by my site today. I hope you have enjoyed the weekend, and you were able to do something joyful. Although, I do not want anyone to suffer from any illness in life, if this post resonated with you, I would love to read what you have to say. I will respond to all comments as quickly as possible. As the weekend comes to an end, and there are only hours left, I hope you enjoy as much as you can. Please never forget I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

Friday Eve thoughts

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Happy Friday Eve. Even though it was a short week, it still felt long and grueling week. Honestly, it was not all bad because I am being trained on a different process at work and the trainer is great. I have not met many people that had a similar personality to mine, and I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. It is unusual because while I will yell at my computer and use some incredibly colorful language towards the computer, and I will even say that it has a bad attitude problem, most people think that is ludicrous, the trainer does the same😊! We both enjoy adding humor to our day because it makes the day slightly happier and more interesting.

Life can be challenging, and we face many hardships throughout our lives. Everyone deals with painful times differently, but we all need someone to talk to and lean on when we struggle with various situations. A friend of mine that I have worked with at two different companies previously remain close over the years. We have talked about everything and anything during the years we have known each other. Last Sunday, she found that her grandmother was being moved into a hospice center, which was obviously extremely painful☹.

After learning that her grandmother would be leaving this world soon, she immediately made plans to go visit her. Unfortunately, her grandmother did pass away a few days after being moved to hospice. I told my friend that she could call me anytime she needed someone to talk to and that I would do anything I possibly could for her. The funeral is Friday and I know that will be one of the hardest days she will go through because I remember when my grandfather passed away. My friend has said the same thing I did when I lost my grandfather, she feels numb and like she lost a HUGE part of her heart and soul. I think the reason learning about my friend losing her grandmother affected me so profoundly is because I remember that pain like it was yesterday and it has been almost 10 years since losing my grandfather.

Losing someone we love is never easy. It is important to be supportive and understanding when we know someone is experiencing such a heartbreaking situation. Of course, we cannot make the pain disappear, but we can listen and be empathic. Sadly, we have all lost someone we loved, so we know how tragic and agonizing the pain can feel. I am sure we have all heard that saying, “It is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all”. Even though that sounds so clique, it is true.

How has your week been? The news always seems to be hard to watch because there is so much sadness. So many people have been glued to the TV to watch the Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard case. That entire situation has been beyond ridiculous. Of course, I do not know either one of them, but the accusations that were made about Depp were serious. Many people suffer in abusive relationships, so when we watch this on the news with clear lies it is infuriating. Lies and deceit does nothing but destroys lives, but this is something people do commonly. Those who lie as easy as it is for most to breathe make my blood boil, especially reading something so horrendous.

Thank you for visiting my site today. I am sure y’all are looking forward to the weekend and hopefully, you will be able to enjoy it safely. I would love to read your comments and I will respond as quickly as I can. Although, you do not know my friend who lost her grandmother, please keep her in your thoughts and prayers, she needs this currently. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes.

Always, Alyssa

Difference between personality traits

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When we can recognize the different types of traits one can have, we can understand those around us better. Through this post, I am going to explain the difference between Introversion, Empathy, and Highly Sensitive People. I know not everyone is interested in this kind of information, but I am incredibly fascinated and hope you will be as well. Once you have read about these traits, you might find you can relate to one of two of them and I would love to know which resonates with you the most.

Over the years the term Introvert has been misunderstood. About 30-50% of the population are introverts. Many believe when someone is shy or antisocial, this means they are an introvert, but this is not always accurate. The truth is many introverts are social and enjoy spending their time with a few close friends. With this understanding, it is important to know that introverts commonly feel drained quickly when they are in social situations and they need a great deal of time alone to rejuvenate their energy. This is the reason introverts tend to prefer to stay in or spend time with one or two people, instead of a big group.

Something I found interesting because I was not aware of it is being an introvert is genetic. This involves differences in the way the brain processes the “reward chemical”, dopamine. Those that are born an introvert do not feel rewarded by external stimuli with things such as large gatherings and small talk. Where introverts lose energy with groups, they get great satisfaction from more meaningful activities such as reading, creative hobbies, and time alone to ponder their thoughts.

About 70% of all introverts are also highly sensitive people. A person that is a highly sensitive introvert may come across as very observant, caring, emotional, and even though others are exhausting, they can read them very well.

Over the years, empaths have taken on several different meanings. It is mostly and most accurately explained by a person with the ability to understand the mental and emotional states of those around them.

An empath would explain they do not just notice another’s feelings but feel the other person’s feelings deeply, almost as if they were their own. They can become overwhelmed with feelings of stress and the empath may experience panic attacks, chronic fatigue, and physical symptoms that are typically used to form a conclusion for a medical diagnosis.

Being an empath, can be thought to be a blessing and a curse for the person. This is often felt so intensely, and the empath is unable to turn it off or ignore the feelings. It can take years to establish ways to turn it down when necessary. This can result in the empath going from feeling extremely happy to being overpowered with stress, anxiety, or other negative emotions because someone else came into the room.

The trait of being a Highly Sensitive Person has been commonly misunderstood. With one word, “sensitive” being in the name tends to leave these people with negative views from others. This does not mean you are made from glass and will break easily or cry at a pin drop. It does indicate you process more information regarding the world than those around you.

Highly sensitive people can be described as the following:

*Process information and notice connections that other people do not.

*Become overwhelmed or overstimulated because the brain processes so much input.

*Like empaths, they pick up on emotional signs and feel empathy for others deeply.

*Conscious of the smaller things that others overlook.

Highly Sensitive people have different emotional elements involved. Similar to an empath, they feel the emotions of others and tend to be sensitive to more than emotions only, but are sensitive to all sensory inputs. They may become overwhelmed in situations where it seems to be noisy, crowded, or too fast-paced no matter what type of emotions they are dealing with.

Thank you for visiting my site today! I hope you are having a great week and you enjoyed the information in this post. I am looking forward to reading your comments on this post and will respond as quickly as I can. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

What is an Empath?

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The majestic world we share is beautiful, intriguing, exciting, and astonishing. If we can be open-minded, understanding, compassionate, and sincere, we can be presented with many opportunities for growth and knowledge. Our curiosity and desire empower us to learn. Knowledge is important for everyone to possess and if used correctly can make incredible changes.

Originally, I planned to only do one post about this interesting topic, but now I decided it would be better to do in two parts. There is too much information for one post and separating the posts will make each post shorter and more interesting or at least that is what I hope for.

There are several things I find riveting. Two of them most of you already know, I love to read and write. Something I think is extremely interesting is psychology. This is a topic that needs to be shared and researched more because mental health is so fragile and mysterious as there is so much unknown. Every individual’s personality is uniquely molded for only one person. We are all different and interesting and distinctive.

Do you know what is means to be an empath? People that are empaths are exceedingly aware of the emotions of others. Their awareness is so strong, they can feel the emotions others feeling themselves. Those that are empaths see the world differently than others. They are intensely aware of others, the pain others feel, and what their emotional needs are.

People that are empaths are extremely sensitive and can sense thoughts and feelings of those surrounding them. It is important to understand the different variations of empaths there are, which I am going to briefly explains.

Physical empaths can not only understand what is happening in their body but can understand others physical symptoms as well. They tend to take on the illness’s others are experiencing themselves.

All empaths are incredibly sensitive, but intuitive empaths can also recognize minuscule energies, emotions, and physical symptoms of others. Intuitive empaths consume the energies they sense from others, positive or negative into their bodies and feel them as if they were their own.

While empaths are highly sensitive to others, plant empaths uniquely engage with the needs of plants. These individuals can make exceptional gardeners or landscapers because they instinctually know the needs that plants have.

Those who are earth empaths are an exceptional type. They are avidly aware of the nature in the world. Things such as the beauty of waterfalls, trees in the forest, and flowers in an open field stimulate and invigorate earth empaths, and harmful air pollutants cause them to feel exhausted and sickly.

Animal empaths are one of my favorites and I resonate with. Animal empaths can have traits from other empaths but surround themselves with animals. When they are out in public, they are often spending time with animals instead of people. These people have a significant and memorable bond with animals, which provides them an ability to feel their needs and communicate with them in a gentle and calming manner.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my site and read what I have shared. I hope you found this information interesting and provided you a better understanding of empaths. In the next post, I am going to share some signs to indicate if you are an empath. I do look forward to reading your comments and will respond to all of them as quickly as I can. It would be interesting to know if you see yourself as an empath and which best fits you. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa