Sometimes I care too much. This is something that I am trying to work on.

Well, how can one "care too much" you may be wondering? Isn't caring a good thing?

Alas, while caring is a good thing to do, anything that is done in excess usually has negative repercussions. This notion especially holds true in the context of discussing "caring too much." It is important to care; we need people to care about us and we need to care about ourselves in order to create a positive world. However, when we care too much, it usually leads us to create these expectations and judgments when things do not play out the way that we intended.

The act of caring stems first from the act of wanting to care, insinuating love. We would not care about somebody or something if we did not love that person or thing. Clearly, we want the best for them because that is what leads us to care in the first place. We also wrongly assume that our way is the best way; this person will only end up okay if we go above and beyond to show them that we care.

In reality, sometimes what we assume is the best method of helping and showing that we care is actually not what the person on the receiving end needs. And this is alright.

But it does not always feel alright.

It hurts when our best efforts to care go unnoticed. It hurts, even more, when our best efforts to care go unappreciated. It hurts the most when our best efforts to care end up hindering those that we intended to actually help.

We have to accept that sometimes our best efforts do not achieve what we expected them to. Acknowledging that the outcome is not what we intended is important to keep ourselves sane and also to keep a positive relationship with the person on the other end.

I used to always consider caring too much to be a character flaw. Isn't it ironic that when we tried to a good thing and it ended up causing us to feel like we did the opposite?

Now I'm starting to realize that we need people to "care too much." It's a good thing to "care too much." It's better to put our full efforts of love and care into something and have it not be enough than for us to hardly love and care at all and wonder what could have been if we gave it our all. Ultimately, though, it is all about finding a healthy balance. Thus, I encourage us all to continue caring with appropriate boundaries to ensure a content balance.