The co-dependent woman

I used to be one.

I think it happens when you grow up in a home where you are not fully accepted by your family. You grow up feeling as though you could never get through life without another person to help you, or even just to love you.

It took several years of therapy, and an extended separation from my (then) husband to make me see that happiness is about taking a genuine positive interest in other people.

Once you are able to see the good in others, it is easier to find it in yourself.

I think when we feel lonely, it is because we are focused on the negative..both in ourselves, and in others. We live in fear of losing the only positive things in our lives, and that is where dependency on other people happens.

If we can just change our focus to ignoring the bad in ourselves and others, and REALLY focusing on the good, it becomes less important to hold on to one person or thing, because we can finally see that there are other things out there in the world that can make us just as happy.