Feeling other people's pain

If you've never read the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, I highly recommend it. Terry Pratchett has a way with words like no other. I was reminded today of an element in the book that is just a minor part, but has so much meaning when you think about it. In the book, Trillian finds a 'point of view' gun and uses it to hit the President of the Galaxy with her thoughts. He immediately felt what she was feeling, and was able to understand why she was acting the way she was. I'm struck by how poignant this instrument is. Imagine being able to point and shoot at someone and they immediately understand your feelings on a deep, deep level. How much miscommunication and pain do we as humans go through trying to get someone else to understand us? 

    Today during meditation I learned that being an empath and medium is a lot like having access to a reverse point of view gun. I was asked to do a reading for a friend of a friend. Not really knowing this person, I agreed and asked my spirit guides for some information. Among the pieces of info I received, I was hit with this overwhelming sense of heartache. I know from conversations with my friend that the person I was asked to read for has had their fair share of grief in their life, though I don't really know the circumstances surrounding the cause. The grief I felt was deep and heavy. My spirit guides were showing me exactly how this person feels. I felt a deep ache in my chest, I immediately began to weep. I personally have never experienced grief so deep in my life, but even though I had no reference, I knew exactly what it was I was feeling. 

    As an empath, I have a lot of experience absorbing others' emotions. But that is sort of like wearing a new skin or a new piece of clothing. You can feel it on the outside, but you know it's not yours and you can take it off at any time. I briefly felt this deep when I walked into a large, dark entity in one of my visits to Forest Haven. During today's meditation, I was feeling the grief, pain, and anguish as if it were my own. When I recovered, I asked my spirit guides if there was anything else I should see. I was told that I had enough for today. I think this experience is like training wheels for me since I'm so new at all of this. My guides are showing me my potential, but aren't overwhelming me with too much too fast. 

    I am so grateful that my gifts allow me access to other people's feelings in this way. It gives me a deep awareness of the humanity of us all. Imagine how much better off we would be as a race of beings if we all had the capability of accessing others' emotions and feelings. I'm convinced that so much of what we're experiencing right now as a society can be directly attributed to a lack of empathy.