I'm at an age now where I realize how much time and energy I have put into making others happy above myself, or waiting for someone else to make me happy. It is my responsibility to be kind, loving, honest, dependable, etc, but it is not my responsibility to make sure everyone else is happy. Nor is it theirs to make me happy. We have to choose that for ourselves. I have too often confused self care with selfishness, and that just isn't true. If I don't take care of myself, no one else will. Having empathy does not mean you have to jump into someone else's drama pool. It means you show your love and support from a safe ledge and throw them a rope. If you jump in to save them then you both are stuck!! And, to be honest, some people don't really want out of the pool! You can't be responsible for everything and everybody! In fact, you can actually be doing others a disservice if you take over their responsibility. You will never be able to 'Let Go and Just Ride' in your own life if you continue to chain yourself to other people's problems. Again, this doesn't mean we don't care, or we don't want to be involved, it just means we need to do it from a healthy perspective. Sometimes we just need to look in the mirror and say to ourselves, “NOT MY HARLEY, NOT MY BUTT HURT!”, and remember we are more help to the people we love if we are taking care of ourselves! This is a life lesson I may never master, but I hope to get better at!
No comments:
Post a Comment