Let people come and go as they need, don't try to hold the weight of them on your shoulders. It's not our responsibility or even our place to rescue others, to save ones we care for, to impose ourselves into other's lives. Be the door - be ready to accept folks into your world, and also be ready to let them go when they are ready to leave. Caring for another sometimes means letting them go, and that is life. It's all the entanglements that hold us down, that weigh on us so heavily like kids, pets, all the 300,000 items we share in our homes together, bank accounts, etc. What if all of that was a non-issue, and you were in each other's lives because you WANTED to be, not because you feel you have to be?

Chew on that for a few minutes. Re-read it. Now, read on.

Most of us don't remain in the same friendship circles our entire lives, and most of us date multiple people before committing to one long term, and that is even often short-lived but quickly entangled. What does it all mean? We get caught up in the idealism of romance and security and stability, without understanding that it's not for everyone. The idea of marriage and vows and a lifetime commitment - where does that come from, and is it even for humans? In our basic natural state as animals, are we monogamous? It doesn't appear to be so, just watch any movie or read a book. Yet we choose it, often for the sake of comfort and to be not-alone.