🔥
May 12 • Introductions
An Empath’s Journey — Embracing My Inner Weirdo
So this essay/post is being written to introduce myself and in response to a request by , who asked that we share about living life on our own terms and about what our inner weirdo is.
So first, for those of you who don’t know me, let me introduce myself. My name is George Benson. I am the youngest of nine kids, and I have been married to my wife, Jodell, since 1994. Together, we have been blessed to raise our two daughters, Antonia, who is a ministry intern, and Julia, who is a firefighter/paramedic.
EMBRACING MY INNER WEIRDO
Recently, after reading various posts by @Rasheed Hooda and @Matt Landry, I was struck by something Matt said that I had never heard someone say before. He said he was an empath. A word I have lived since I was six, and a word I had never heard another human use to describe themselves in over 50 years, except in books that I have read from authors writing about that specific topic.
So what is an empath? An empath is someone who not only notices the emotions of others, but can often feel them deeply, as if they are their own. In fact, many empaths struggle with learning to distinguish what they are feeling and where it is coming from.
For some empaths, they are very intuitive and are often very good at reading other people’s emotions and the micro-expressions that are presented by others through various physical characteristics, movements, or other body language. For other empaths, they pick up on the tone of a person’s voice, the specific words they use or don’t use, and the aura, sensations, or energy that is emanating from a person’s body.
For some of you, you might not have heard of the word empath, but you might know people who you think are overly sensitive. In clinical terms, psychologists, counselors, or clinicians might refer to them as being an HSP, or a Highly Sensitive Person.
For me, although we did not have the words to describe it at the time, I was raised to embrace being an empath, and I grew to develop a strong intuition and at times to experience things that, to this day, I have no words to explain. For those who are interested, I have written a book that I give away for free called Dancing Through the Storms of Life. In that book, I write in the third person about my life and the events that have shaped who I am today. So if you’re interested in learning more about my inner weirdo, feel free to click the link.
So before I close, I want to share one story from my life, and some thoughts, that are inspired by a couple of posts by that I read, including his introduction post and one titled “Don’t Take Anything Personally...”
So the story starts when I was attending Catherine Booth Bible College in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
At the time, my friend and roommate Craig, and two friends of ours — Darlene and Traci — were walking through the city. It was a beautiful night, and we were just out laughing and giggling and enjoying each other’s company when suddenly I had this strong sense that I was being pulled to go down an alley. I can’t explain why, as I had no logical reason for it. I just had this deep inner belief that I needed to head in that direction. The others were like, “George, what are you doing?” I didn’t speak. I just kept walking, and thankfully, the others followed.
As we walked down the alley and turned to look around a corner, we saw two men. One man was trying to hold up the other, and as we got closer, we realized that one of the men had been stabbed. He was bleeding badly, and his friend was trying to get him to walk out of the alley to get help. But the man, filled with despair, wasn’t only wounded physically; he was emotionally ready to give up on life and kept saying to his friend to just let him die.
Faced with the reality of the situation, in that moment, I had to decide whether to keep walking toward the man or to walk away. But I felt something that, up until that moment, none of my friends ever knew about me. You see, I could relate to the man. I knew what it was like to lose hope, and so I knelt down in front of him and started talking to him.
I told him that I knew what it was like to want to die. I knew what it was like to feel like there was nothing worth living for. But I also told him that he was worth saving, and that I believed that God had a plan for his life, and that sometimes when you’re at rock bottom, that means that things can only get better.
Then I told him that I was going to have my friends go call for an ambulance.
So why do I share this story? I think, in part, because of my faith and the belief that sometimes choosing to see ourselves in others allows us the opportunity to heal ourselves by helping others.
This is why some of what Matt was saying in his post, “Don’t Take Anything Personally,” really resonated with me and my life. I mean, I agree that not everything is about me, and not everything is mine to fix, and not every mood, tone, silence, or reaction belongs to me. But just because something is not my responsibility does not mean that I should always do nothing.
For me, the question is not simply, “Is this mine to carry?”
It’s also, “Is this mine to see or to witness?” And then, “Am I being given an opportunity or invitation by God to respond?”
I know over the years there have been times I have gotten it wrong. I have stepped in when I should have stepped aside, and I have stepped aside when I should have stepped up. Thankfully though, that’s where grace comes in, and recognizing that we are all human. We are all learning. And none of us are perfect.
3
13 comments
An Empath’s Journey — Embracing My Inner Weirdo
powered by
skool.com/yes-you-can-4362
Farewell caterpillar, hello 🦋 Experience paradigm shifts and pivot/reinvent yourself to transform life on your terms. No hustle, no grind.
Suggested communities
Powered by