Last year, I had a really busy season during the holidays and the more I piled on, the more I felt depleted. I just could never seem to catch my breath. This culminated to a minor nervous breakdown the day after Christmas, with full blown flu-like symptoms to boot.

It was too much.

I was giving to everyone, except myself.

With the help of my husband, therapist and close friends, I was able to pull back a little bit and get some perspective on what went so terribly wrong. Here is what I found:

1. I would have a burst of energy and say “yes” to things I normally would opt out of… (highly interactive social events, picking up extra errands to help out others, taking on more clients, etc)
2. I would feel guilty or sad if I said no, or “inconvenienced” anyone because of my answer.
3. Had loosey-goosey boundaries aro ...