It's an ordinary evening. You put one more thing away, answer a message and already think about tomorrow morning. The day is done. Only now do you realise you hardly had a moment you chose for yourself.
Perhaps you haven't even done anything unpleasant. You like your work. You love your family. You enjoy being there for others. Still, a quiet feeling remains: Someone is missing from my life. Me.
When habits become expectations
We rarely lose ourselves because of one big decision. More often it begins with small shifts. Your walk is cancelled because something needs doing. A wish is put off until later. You accept an invitation even though you were looking forward to a quiet evening.
Sometimes that works. It becomes difficult when you regularly treat your needs as the ones most able to wait. Eventually others don't even need to ask. You take over before the question is raised.
It can start to feel as though being needed is the same as being seen. Yet someone may rely on you without noticing what it costs you. And you can be dependable without always being available.
