So today I was at my therapy appointment (oooooo, I’m one of those…) and we were talking about one thing and she asked me some questions about how I feel about some things (am I being vague enough?). Eventually she asked me about how I react if someone else has something bad going on with them.
“Well, I feel responsible. Even if logically I know it’s not my fault that, say, my best friend had a bad day at work– I feel guilty and I want to make everything better. It’s like I want to fix everything in the world but who cares if I’m having a horrible day as long as everyone else is happy”.
“Oh, this is just GREAT! Exactly what I’ve been waiting for! Do me a favor? My dryer stopped working yesterday. What time can you be over? And do you have your own tool box?”
We sort of looked at each other for a second and both burst out laughing.
It’s so good that she gets me.
Look, it’s a bird…no, it’s a plane….no, it’s SUPERWOMAN!!
I used to be like that…and still am to a certain extent… be it is true that you really have to take care of you first so that you have something to give back to the world. But it’s a hard lesson to learn….
yeah, i used to be like that. took a lot of work to get away from it, and it’s certainly not gone entirely, but i’m better with it. for instance, if i go out for dinner with a friend and they don’t like the food or the service is crappy or something i always feel guilty, even though it has nothing to do with me. i start thinking they only went to this restaurant because they though i wanted to or ’cause i suggested it or whatever. i’m better at letting people take responsiblity for their own actions now. i take responsibilty for my decisions, i have to learn to give people enough credit to take responsibilty of theirs.
I too have the same problem. It is so reassuring to know that obviously there are a lot of other women (or men) who are ‘fix it’ people.