You ask some good questions! And it's really exciting to see you develop control and self-acceptance! It seems like you've come a long way in a short time.

I've also been playing around with the idea that being an empath is a choice. I know people have different opinions on this, and I'm not sure where I stand yet...

I'd like to add my opinion to the mix:

I think that before we're born, we have an intent for the life we're about to live. This intent determines the attributes we take with us into our 3D bodies. We don't remember any of this of course (because that would defeat the purpose of being born and living a life as a human), so we might struggle with the purpose we chose for our lives, resisting ourselves until we've had enough and decide to move forward with our original intent, 'remembering' it gradually as we step into it (though this remembering seems like an imagined future that feels somehow familiar).

Some may come in with the intent to play an apparently negative role as a challenge to someone else. We look at these people and often judge them, but they're serving a purpose much like the villain in any good story. In 'real life' the actor who plays the 'bad guy' is usually much more balanced than his role. The difference is in this life, most people are completely immersed in their roles, convinced they really are their personalities. This makes for excellent storytelling.

We still have free will and may choose not to follow through with the original intent we had for our lives, and that's okay too. Our subconscious might put up a fight if we're not aligned with the original purpose we chose for ourselves, but I think it's also possible to 'wake up' and change that purpose even within our current life.

We may come in without any particular sensitivity to others, but decide we want it, and I think this desire is really all that's required to develop empathy (or any ability). Simply investing attention into what we want to be able to perceive will develop the sensitivity necessary to do so. I think we have access to all the attributes of our true infinite nature, and we can draw on them at will using intuition. But you're right, it's not easy (or maybe not even possible) to 'un-acquire' an ability.