When Taking on Other People’s Problems Becomes Too Heavy…
You may discover you’re not as strong as you think.
You know the friend who calls you when she's sad and depressed and wants you to be sad and depressed with her? If you aren't sad and depressed, she wants advice about the same guy, job, or family members she's been upset over for years (you know she won’t use it).
Yesterday, I ran out of advice. I didn't have anything to say to make my friend feel better. I didn't have any new answers to her problems. Therefore,
I permitted myself to be unbothered.
Unbothered and Unanswered
I couldn't go through another one of those conversations where hours later, I feel weighed down by the fetters of her problems. All I did was listen. I listened, and I heard her words.
But I learned something. My overwhelming desire to have the answer to her problems was the heaviness I would feel after a conversation with her.
That heaviness would have a bearing on me for hours and sometimes days. But a few days before our conversation, I'd learned a life lesson about my need to be helpful.
