The empath is the producer level of the emotional ecosystem, transforming light energy into the sweetness all else depends on.
Being an empath is similar to being an endurance athlete, you need to take breaks sometimes to recharge, otherwise you can inadvertently give to much and those around you can't tell when your just fine or over-extending, only you can do that. So remember to use your skills on yourself, to help yourself, as much as you use them to help and care for others.
I am your emotional firefighter, and I'll always run into every burning building for you. All I ask is that you remember, that eventually fatigue will take over and I'll get burned right along with you. And that, would be the end of our love, consumed to ashes. So, while my mood is low, while I need rest, please learn how to inwardly reflect and solve some of your own emotional issues, be your own emotional firefighter sometimes. After all, it's just another thing people can learn, not magic.
All of our biology is a potential, something we can hone and develop. I chose to develop my empathy just as a martial artist chooses to develop their flighting skills. That's how I got to become an Empath, and you can too, if you practice kindness. That said, the super-empaths can use emotional indifference for self protection when required, switching in and out of it as easily as a cyclist changes gears according to the terrain.
Be an empath, but hold the key to your own heart. Sure, you can give someone a copy of it, for life or for a while, but always be able to lock your own door with dead bolts on the inside. True vulnerability needs true protection, so love yourself enough to develop the capacity for it.
Crystal, being an empath is one of the hardest tasks you could choose. You see the real person, not the mask they want to present, and that makes you equally desirable and detestable depending on their response or reaction. Some are okay with their "naked" self being seen, others aren't.
When you show a person a part of themselves they've been suppressing or denying, they either have an emotional breakthrough or submit to their primitive anger response. One leads to good places, the other to bad places, but your role in both situations is identical. Whilst you should always try to present the information in the kindest way possible, it is entirely up to them if hearing truth becomes a blessing or a curse... so set yourself free... you owe yourself that much.