The pros of my empathy

Empathy helps me understand people better than IKEA instructions.
I can easily see what a person really meant to say, even if they said something completely different. Because of this, my friends consider me a “blanket person”: warm, soft, and always ready to listen.

The cons they don't tell you about in the ads

Empathy sometimes turns me into free emotional Wi-Fi: everyone connects, and I don't have time to give out the password.
I experience other people's dramas as if they were my own TV series, and at the end of the season, I need a vacation.

Boundaries? What boundaries? When someone is sad, I forget about my own business faster than a phone with 1% battery.

So is it good or bad?

The conclusion is simple: empathy is like a superpower. It's cool, but if you use it without instructions, you can accidentally burn out and start hating phone calls.

That's why I'm learning to turn on “self-care mode”: I listen, but I don't carry everything on my shoulders; I help, but I don't save the world alone.

And you know what? That way, empathy becomes not a problem, but a pleasant bonus to your character. Like free shipping — it's always nice when it's fun to use.