Chapter 3: Hearts on Fire – Love, Abuse, and Losing Yourself
Confession: Nobody warns you that being the “helper” can nearly kill you as an adult. They don’t tell you that the same skills that once made you a survivor as a kid—reading moods, fixing, bending, saying yes—are the same ones that turn you into a magnet for disaster as you get older.
Let’s talk relationships. All those schoolyard habits? I brought them right into my love life (and friendships, and jobs, but let’s start with love, because that’s where things get wild). I’m not just talking about helping someone move or picking up an extra shift for your partner. I’m talking about full-on losing yourself, morphing for someone else until you don’t even recognize the shape you’re in.
