Empathy Magnet

I know that I should be reflecting on the elections today but I am ready to move forward. For the first time this past week I have filled my recycle bin...mostly with cards and fliers promoting some yahoo who is going to change my life for the better....hmmm

I am basically a cup half full find of gal. I can easily maneuver through life, picking myself up in a timely manner when I get kicked in the shin. I listen to both sides of a story (knowing I am right). But, what I do know about myself and is more apparent of late is I am an "Empathy Magnet." You ask, "What the hell is that?" For the most part when a friend is having a hard time I feel her pain, when the chimp brings the Pepsi to the scientist...I cry, when I watch emotional movies I cry hard...I mean really hard. Now being an empathy magnet is good in the best of time. You are seen as a shoulder to lean on, people talk to you. As a protective mechanism I avoid movies that are really sad or fearful. I only have a select small group of friends and I have learned to eat lunch in a quiet place. The problem now is my magnet is on full draw...with the news headlining disaster every friggin' day, with people I know losing their jobs and homes, my favorite restaurants and stores closing, I am emotionally drowning. I am exhausted most of the time, my libido is half what it used to be and my brain is firing full speed towards....oh my god the skies falling!

So, I have a plan for winter...to survive the darkness of the day coming sooner and longer. I am going to take a clue from chicken little. Get more exercise by running around. I have taken up screaming at the top of my lungs when I am alone at home and it does release the stress in my jaw. I am giving up my grab for the business section of the paper to see what businesses are sinking. I have joined a hiking group of people I don't know. I made my first appointment to have acupuncture. I am making the next few month one of new experiences because basically I like being an empathy magnet. I love people and I love being connected, I just need to find a path this winter that will let me be who I am and survive the emotional storm all around me.