What Carla describes sounds exactly like my best friend & hetero-lifemate off-line.
I call her a living, breathing, Catch-22 – she’ll drop anything & everything to help someone, regardless of her own life/health/financial constraints. It leaves her beyond “stretched thin.”
It’s frustrating, & I keep telling her to learn how to say “no.” I want her to take better care of herself.
But, I know, her empathy, generous nature, & the lengths to which she’ll go to help a friend is one of the many reasons we love her so much.
Take care of yourself first. You have nothing to give anyone else if you are stretched so thin you snap. ❤
I have spent almost my entire life trying to please other people.
I’ve never perceived myself as someone people actually like.
I feel like I’m often a port of harbor for so many, as I so frequently open myself up to others, in an attempt to ease their burdens, to help, but that isn’t the same thing as feeling liked.
As a general rule, despite what I say, I actually generally like people. There aren’t too many people I meet that I immediately dislike; and usually if I do, there’s a reason. I rarely just “don’t like” someone. I don’t mesh with people, but I become indifferent to them, neither disliking nor liking them.
However, in a desperate attempt to people-please, I’ve constantly done one of two things (or sometimes both together):
- I expect, sometimes unfairly, that my loved ones will hold the same care, regard, trust and loyalty I…
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