We all know them. They always have some drama going on. Something to complain about. They like to bend our ear whenever we are near. To bounce their troubles off of. Because we are good listeners. They think that it will help them resolve their struggles.

The only problem with this is that you feel drained after interacting with them. You don't have your vitality anymore. You gave it all to them. You wanted to be a "good friend". You forgot to be a friend to yourself first.

You see, we can find ourselves caught in this vicious cycle of attempting to support those around us through what they believe is the best thing for them, but if we lose sight of who we are and what our own principles are in the world, we can end up feeling downtrodden and worn out. We end up with not enough energy to take care of ourselves.

There is a different way.

I am not going to call it "better", since there are trade-offs along the way that make it somewhat challenging for some of us to pull off. We mig...