Dear wonderfully empathetic you,
I am so incredibly proud of you. You are able to see the good in people even when it is so far down not even they know it exists in themselves. You are the one all your friends come to when they have a problem, because they know you can evaluate all the side-effects either decision will have. You have an inexhaustible source of love and forgiveness that you continue to share with friends, family, and even strangers sometimes, and it is something the rest of the world needs to try.
Sometimes it is the most amazing feeling when you are able to help someone else through their emotional struggles. You can feel all the hurt and pain wash away from this person, and not only does it make you happy to see them happy, but you have been carrying their emotional weight with you whether you meant to or not, and it's a relief to let it go.
I know it can be frustrating sometimes. It can feel like people take advantage of your sensitivity because they know you won't hold a grudge against them. Sometimes your friends want you to be on their side of an argument with no questions asked, but you know the other person probably has a legitimate reason for acting the way they did. People get confused when you don't react strongly to things that make them angry, simply because you can understand the emotional aspect of all sides of the situation. Sometimes you perceive emotions in other people that they aren't actually expressing, or at least trying to express, and that can lead to some misunderstandings.
Despite all of that, I want you to know something very important. It is not your responsibility to keep everyone around you happy. Sometimes it feels like you are the only one capable of keeping someone else from falling off some emotional abyss. If this is the case, please, please don't take it on all by yourself. Your own emotions are important. Your exhaustion is just as real as everyone else's. You do not need to stretch yourself thin in an effort to keep everyone else at an equilibrium.
Sometimes it's difficult to reach out to other people, even though it seems to be so easy for others to reach out to you. When you feel the stress of your life plus at least three others' starting to get to you, find a friend, a relative, a teacher, a counselor, ANYONE that you trust. They should be more than willing to listen to your struggles just as you have listened to everyone else. You do not have to bear any of this on your own.
From one empathetic person to another, hang in there. Everyone else will understand eventually, they just need a little more time and a great friend like you to help them out.
