One of the greatest and most freeing lessons I have ever learned is understanding what codependency is, and avoiding it in personal and business relationships. Not only can it make you feel drained, overwhelmed, and stressed, it also adds false responsibility to your plate.
If you feel this way often, start with these concrete steps:
Educate yourself on the symptoms of codependency, I would highly recommend Henry Cloud's book, Boundaries, it's a life changer.
Take an inventory of personal and business relationships in your life and identify those that exemplify codependent characteristics.
Spend some time writing the symptoms of codependency in the relationship and evaluate whether or not that person is typically open to conversation about improving themselves or others.
Set boundaries in the relationships that will free you, and them.
There is a difference between helping someone who is disabled, incapable or otherwise infirm versus helping someone who is resisting growing up and taking care of what every adult (or child, for that matter) has to be responsible for: herself or himself. When you find yourself in any way paying for someone else’s responsibilities, not only are you stuck with a delayed ending, but you are probably harming that person.
- Henry Cloud