"I was the one people turned to. And if they didn't turn to me, I turned to them. If someone was going through a hard time, I'd show up with soup, a handwritten card, or a call that stretched for hours. I'd intuit needs before they were spoken. And when people said things like "Wow! How do you even manage all this?" or "You're incredible," my heart swelled with pride. It felt good to be seen. It felt powerful to be needed."
"Underneath all that strength was someone tired. Not the kind of tired that sleep could fix-but the kind that comes from years of overriding your own needs for others. The kind that comes from confusing love with over-giving. The kind that sneaks up when you've worn the strong-one mask for so long, you don't know who you are without it."
Quiet strength and reliability receive cultural praise, and constant caregiving becomes a source of pride and identity. A person can manage work, home, relationships, and many tasks while gaining admiration for being dependable and helpful. Persistent over-giving and intuitive caregiving mask a deepening fatigue that sleep cannot resolve. Years of prioritizing others' needs produce emotional exhaustion, blurred boundaries, and confusion between love and over-giving. Wearing the strong-one mask long enough can erode self-knowledge and leave someone unsure who they are without the helper role. Asking for help becomes an act of strength and self-preservation.
Read at Tiny Buddha
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]