Receiving other people's thoughts - I HATE IT!

[flowereye]

I think I'm receiving (channeling?) the thoughts of people around me.
Some recent incidents have made me come to the conclusion that not all of my worries are my own.
It both bothers me and annoys me. It's very counter productive to have others' negative energy hold you back when you yourself want to move forward.

I've described two recent episodes below.
What do you think? Just a coincidence? I'm really in tune with body language (as in good at reading it) so these incidents might not even have anything to do with spirituality. Or what?

I'm so confused and I just want peace and quiet!

Episodes:

Incident 1:

A while ago I was having a sleep over at my friend's.
I couldn't fall asleep because I kept worrying about my parents dying and that sort of stuff. I normally don't worry about this.
In the morning I told my friend. She told me that that's one of her greatest fears and something she spends a lot of time thinking about.


Incident 2:

Recently I've been receiving (now sure if that's the proper term) the thoughts of one of my family members (whom I live with). Her thoughts are semi-destructive and very black. Like a black smog. Not like she's depressed, but more like her thoughts and energy is very heavy.

She's currently very preoccupied with boys. Not being with them, but rather worrying about finding a husband soon-ish. She hasn't told me directly, but it's obvious that this is 1 of the 2 things that are on her mind these days.
I'm older than her (by a few years) and of course I think about finding a bf/husband at some point (I think everybody does), but I've never been preoccupied by it, until recently.
I suddenly started fretting real bad that I'd never find a mate, and I even signed up for a dating site. The next day I got freaked out by my rash behavior and deleted my dating profile.
Now I'm back to normal thinking of "when it happens, it happens".

[Elfay]

Hi flowereye and welcome to the forum! That happens to me a lot, I can pick up energies around me, like my families, or from people living around me like neighbors. I can also pick up the energy on forums. Sometimes its really bad and I get really low and depressed, when I am on a forum, like this one I sometimes write weird things, get argumentive, not really like me. Then I realise its not me , I wrote it but they weren't really my feelings what was writen. It can be very frustrating and scary at times because you KNOW they were not your feelings at all. Sometimes it can help puting up shields and doing a lot of grounding. Meditating can help too.

[John32241]

Hi,

I can relate to these experiences. I suspect that many of us are becoming more sensitive. This is a good thing at this time when compassion is being encouraged for both the self and those around us. I suspect that we need to be mindful of that.

Best Wishes!!!
John

[flowereye]

Hi Guys thanks for your kind words.

I guess abilities like these are just a part of you that you gotta learn to live with.

Let me know if any more of you out there have had similar experiences. It's always nice to learn that you're not alone :)

[blackraven]

flowereye - Sounds to me like you are an empath. That is likely why you are picking up on information and emotions of others around you. I posted an article below that might help a bit. :)

http://healing.about.com/cs/empathic/a/uc_empathtraits.htm

Blackraven

[Elfay]

BlackRaven is right, your probably an Empath - sorry I forgot to mention that. I'm an Empath as well and tend to pick up others emotions and energies all the time.

[Elfay]

Great info on Empaths Blackraven, I like the About info. There is also a quiz on Empaths and I took it and scored 100% !!!

[flowereye]

Blackraven, I just read your article! There are many of the things you mention, that I can relate to, so I guess I really am an empath. Now that I think about it, it doesn't really come as a surprise though haha...

I think I'll talk to my mom about it and hear what she has to say... she used to be interested paranormal stuff when I was younger.

[Silver]

Yeah, it sounds like recently you've started becoming more sensitive to people around you. I think I've always been that way, so it's just not surprising and too, I think everyone's that way, but it just isn't so.

It's neither good nor bad, it just is a fact of life you need to learn more about coping skills and tricks to get around the drawing on of the strong feelings of others. This entails learning more about who you really are to yourself, as simple oas learning more about your likes and dislikes, just getting to know YOU. This way it's easier to figure out quickly where your feelings end and another's begin. This can only help you. It will make it easier to feel for them without blurring those boundaries.

[Ladofthelight]

Flowereye,

Perhaps you can use your sensitivity to other peoples feelings, and thoughts as a way to perhaps make them aware of how they affect themselves. Maybe not by saying something like, "You know, your thoughts are choking me!" :-) But, maybe you can engage them in conversation about themselves, getting them to open up to you, talk to you, and more importantly, themselves, about what they are thinking and feeling.

The beauty of this approach is that you already have a pretty good idea about what they think and feel, through your "ability". Getting someone to realize how their thoughts affect themselves, as well as other people is a beautful first step to them being able to make changes in their lives.

Another benefit of this is that you don't have to feel uncomfortable when you are around them either. That is once they stop the negative thought-patterns.

As you become more attuned, you won't even have to know the person to get a "Read". You may already be there. Personally, I have a difficult time being in certain crowds of people, its like walking through waist high mud.

People now are realizing what "abilities" they have. Those people have a choice, they can be upset by it and wish it to go away, which it probably won't, or they can embrace it and use it to help themselves and others.

You get to decide :-)

Much love!

Lad

[infamousjovian]

While I personally don't believe in conventional notions of ESP, I truly believe that people can "sense" each other's feelings, needs and thoughts through nonverbal communication. It's a human trait that gives us the social tact to survive. I dunno. I could be wrong, as always :)

[psychoslice]

While I personally don't believe in conventional notions of ESP, I truly believe that people can "sense" each other's feelings, needs and thoughts through nonverbal communication. It's a human trait that gives us the social tact to survive. I dunno. I could be wrong, as always :)
Hey, don't put yourself down like that, that was a good thought, OK ?.:smile:

[infamousjovian]

Thanks for the nice comment, psyhoslice :)

What I actually meant was that I am always CAPABLE of being wrong, not that I'm ALWAYS wrong :P

I should have thrown in an extra sentence. Haha.