It would be really great--and it would make this counselor heart so very happy--if we could have a universal, required-for-adulthood training on boundaries.
When HELPING becomes HINDERING
The season of perpetual HOPE
I think we're not meant to be people who give up. We're not meant to lie down and let the darkness swallow us. I think we're meant to rise up, to fight back, to give it everything we've got even when it's harder than it's ever been.
Letting in the light when the demons collide
Or, if I'm hanging out with that same mom, we could find companionship in our struggles and lean on one another for support and encouragement to improve our relationship. I could say, "I struggle with that, too. It's not just you." Focusing on the commonality and the fact that we could love each other through the mess would be so much more constructive than writing each other off as a snarky witch who cares only about her super-smart kid.
Depression Isn't Always Eeyore. Sometimes it's Pooh Behind Closed Doors.
I truly, with my whole heart, believe that if we could all do this for each other, the $40+ billion spent annually on anxiety disorders in the United States could plummet. If we could show each other, Hey, you matter and then back it up with our actions, what a wonderful world this could be.