look at it like this- you got caught up in a demanding and unpleasant situation not of your making- and you came through with flying colours!
You were respectful, responsive, but didn't take on board anything long-term you didn't want to.
Yay detachment. Yay your sensitivity.
Last weekend I was doing a music therapy group with alzheimers seniors and suddenly one of the women lept up and kissed me on the mouth. She had bad breath, bad teeth, and she spat into my mouth during a music session.
I was surprised, even overwhelmed for a moment, yet I now feel so happy that I enthusiastically completed the session ( with several glassses of water and minimum discrete unavoidable retching- but I was sick in the bathroom at the end )
For this is a woman who before I took my post there couldn't speak coherently- and now she's singing and getting up and dancing round the piano and kissing people....
We all do what we can.
And if that means for you saying no to minister friends for a while, whilst you get yourself tgether, that's ok.
But you should feel really proud any time you meet needy people and find some way to make them happy, even if it isn't entierly good for you: you did something for someone else, you tried to help, and you're not going to be sucked in to a long-term commitment.
You can explore the way this made you feel with a therapist or here on this board.
An alcoholic needs to avoid triggers, but all of us need to be aware of how negativity saps our energy, and most of all- we all only have so much to give.
(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((()))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
