Am I Empathic?

I've read many, many 'Am I an empath' stories yet still don't know if I am. I am a very good listener and people like to talk to me, my best friend calls me up for advice because she says she knows I won't judge her. Often people I know, but not really (like an new friend or acquaintance) tell me things, very personal things like they were molested as a child or something equally odd to be telling a person you hardly know. My friend told me she was a lesbian and wasn't open about it to very many people. I barely new her when she told me, we went to church years before and then she started piking me up to take me to school instead of the bus. The second day I got back into touch with her she told me and I was like ok, thinking how do I react. But I new she was afraid I wasn't going to react badly to her telling me.

I don't really know if I feel emotions I just know how people are feeling and sometimes thinking. It's not as if (when I know what they're thinking) I hear their voice, I just know, like oh she's thinking he's mean or something. When I know what they're feeling it's as if I look at them and know. I'm not sure if I'm just good at reading people's faces and body language.

When I'm in large crowds I get dizzy and hot. I get headaches sometimes, too. Sometimes I'll get pains out of no where and I'll tell my friends and they say they hurt them selves in that same place. When I help my friend through her problems I often know how she's feeling. Is it that I'm good at reading her voice, or something more? When she doesn't know how to put things in words I often put them in words for her because I know what she's trying to say even when she can't say it, I just think oh she just wants to blank blank and I tell her You just want to do something (sorry can't think of an example).

If I am an empath is there anything I can do to protect myself from these emotions (which may be the cause of my dizziness and headaches in large crowds) and strengthen my gift? Please help me.

Yours,

Alli