There are many ways to see if you are an empathetic person or not. Being empathetic is not a bad thing either. If you can keep control of your emotions and not let others take advantage of your character. Here are five signs that you are an empathetic person. Of course, there are many other signs that you may find as well, that are not listed below.
1 – You Are a Great Listener
People that are great listeners are often very empathetic people. Listening rather than speaking allows the listener to put themselves into the speaker’s shoes and see the situation from the other person’s perspective. When you listen to someone, you are truly trying to understand the struggles and difficulties that the other person is experiencing.
A great listener not only listens to the words that are spoken but is also mindful of non-verbal clues that the speaker expresses while talking. The empathetic listener focuses on what is being said and really tries to put themselves into the other’s shoes to see what, if anything, they can do to help the situation. Good listeners stay actively engaged in the conversation.
2 – You Put Others First
When you are an empathetic person, you tend to put the needs of others first and you take the passenger seat. You do all that you can to make sure the needs of those experiencing struggles and tough situations are taken care of to the best of your ability.
It is common to see people who are very empathetic to put other’s needs above their own, and over time, the empathetic person can begin to neglect themselves. Like anything else in life, there has to be a healthy balance.
3 – You Are a Natural Leader
Empathetic people can be trusted by others very easily. Relationships with coworkers, friends, and family can be formed easily for empathetic people because of their natural compassion, natural empathy, and excellent listening skills. Successful leaders are active listeners and are genuinely involved and concerned with people.
These characteristics foster growth for open communication through the trust that they can build. People are more willing to follow people that they trust and people that show people matter. Followers like to feel as though they are being looked out for and have a voice, great leaders allow people to be heard and make each person feel valuable.
4 – If Social Situations are Draining
For empathetic people, they may find that social situations and gatherings are draining. Empathy generally prompts both positive and negative emotions from one person to another. When an empathetic person is introduced to a social event where every person within the location has good and bad feelings and emotions can be overwhelming.
Some empathetic people do not know how to handle situations like these and become so overwhelmed that they stop responding to their own emotions.
Once out of the situation, the empathetic person can feel drained, overtired, and just want to sleep. This could be a reason why some people are introverts and avoid social gatherings.
5 – You Enjoy Your Relationship with Your Pets
Animals are good at sensing empathetic and sensitive people. They can tell if a person genuinely cares for them and, in turn, the relationship between person and pet grow deeper. Pets can tell that a sensitive person is there and there is an initial connection.
Pets can tell that empathetic people have the best intensions for them and that they are not there to hurt them. This is how you can earn the trust from your pets. This is another reason why some people say they trust their pet’s opinions about people they encounter.