Worse, I get prayers for a swift recovery. WTF?!? At this time, should the final diagnosis be MS, there IS NO recovery. Do they really think I'll get a miracle?

Positive energy, as in refreshing, or as in healing energy. I am an empath. I did not know that word until later in my life. Being an empath is not something you ask for. you just are. The concerns for empaths is not knwing what they can or cannot do with the gift. There is also the realization all people should know. People can drain your energy leaving you tired, worn out, depressed, and just zapped. People don't always realize they are being drained. That is the first thing you must learn. if you are with a few people and someone turns very negative about absolutely everything, my advice is to excuse yourself to get some air, go bathroom, or something. Then leave the group. Go be alone. Practice breathing that fills your lungs with oxygen. Also you can meditate on your chakras. Get them to remove all negative energy. If you are doing it right, you will feel it leaving your body and replacing your lungs with good oygen. When you feel better, remember to create an invisible shield. Stop people from draining you. You must be aware of the sickness of others. You want to give them healing energy, but you do not want their disease. That takes a while to learn. I often send healing energy prayers from a distance. They get the energy and you have a lot more protection. Being a empath is a long subject, but it is what I do to help others. Not soliciting, lol.

@BettyColeman Where do I start? You have made a number of claims that I find difficult to believe and would like to know how you can back up these claims with evidence. Positive energy I can sort of understand in a motivational sense as NLP and other talking therapies can have the same effect, but how do you measure healing energy? You then contradict yourself by saying the way to deal with negative people is to run away? What happens to your positive energy then? Can it not combat negative attitudes? What evidence do you have that your healing prayers work, because all the research into prayer shows that there is no difference in its effectiveness than you would find with chance? You do also realise that James Randy has a substantial prize available to anyone who can prove that they are a genuine faith healer?

Please understand that this is not written to belittle you in any way, but I am genuinely interested to know if you can substantiate your claims.

I think being present is very valuable.

That is really nice, Dwight.

I try to do something similar, along the lines of "I hope the memories of your time with so-and-so and the support of your family and friends are helpful in sustaining you during this difficult time" or similar.

@fanburger prove it.

Leigh, are you responding directly to ravnostic?

In other situations where most people say "I'm praying for you...", would you say that to somebody -- say somebody whose daughter just died?

in that instance, i would just say sorry for your loss BlueWave. i lost a sister just under a year ago

this site echoes sometimes

what works for you when there is great distance?

@btroje what do you mean? What does distance have to do with thoughts and prayers? They are as equally ineffective when you’re in close proximity.

@CRIGBY put a little thought to it dear.I am sure you can think of something

@btroje judging by your PM to me, you’re clearly triggered. ? you have a great day

I do have support. More of a hypothetical question to see what the larger agnostic (etc) community here does. I'm a bit surprised at the amount of responses I'm seeing, I must say.

@ravnostic what do people do or say that seems the most supportive to you?

Just that there there for me and let them know if I need anything. Then we all sit around and bitch about getting older together lolz. Everyone's got something.

@ravnostic so when I say you are in my thoughts to someone that is like hanging with them but long distance style

@btroje Yar, I guess so. It just seems so trite and overused these days, with them going out after every tragedy without any changes to prevent further tragedies. Perhaps it means more coming from someone you know.

@ravnostic yes the comment after say the mass shootings is a different issue and is bs in that context