Compassion

Maybe it's stupid of me, but I've always been this way. I always feel very deeply for my friends, both joys and sorrows, and it affects me to a level I probably shouldn't let it. Whenever a friend has something bad happen to them, I feel just as bad on their behalf as if I'd had it happen to me. My friends have always confided in me, and I've been happy to listen. I've been told that I'm a good listener, and it's one of the ways I try to be a good friend, but it comes with it's toll on me. I'm trying really hard lately to become unattached from the problems of the people I care about, but it's harder than it sounds. Somehow I do feel like if I don't feel bad for them the way I always have, I'm not caring like I should. On the other hand, as my mom said, letting myself get beat up about stuff that's not my fault and that I can't control makes me basically a doormat. Too many of my friends over the course of my life have used me as the punching bag to make themselves feel better, and I took it, because I thought a good friend should be there, but they were never there for me. I don't want to feel miserable like this, but I do still want to show I care. For me, at least, it's a hard balance to maintain. When I did my spiritual gifts inventory I found that I had the gift of compassion, which is to say that I care about people. I guess I have to use that gift and not let it use me. My best bet is just to keep my friends in my prayers. Whether they believe or not, God will take care of them in the way He sees best.