Over-Functioning.
If you watched your parents over-function, there’s a good chance you learned to harness the skill. Over-functioning is taking responsibility for the thinking, feeling, and doing of others. It’s a silent killer in that repetitive exposure in formative years falsely communicates that over-functioning is a duty, not a choice. It proclaims, this is the right way to be in a relationship.
It’s you at the airport hauling your luggage and insisting on hauling another adult’s luggage, while they stroll hands-free.
But over-functioning is never a long-term strategy, eventually you get tired and angry. Eventually you have to go over the little bump on the jet bridge and your insistence of kindness turns to anger and resentment.
You can unlearn the compulsion to over-function. You are allowed to walk through the airport with only your luggage. You can practice tolerating the anxiety of watching another adult manage what they decided to bring.
Journal Prompts:
I over-function when I feel…
I watched my parents…
I want to unlearn…
Journaling is for processing, organizing, reflecting, and more. There are no right ways to journal. There are no wrong ways to journal. Journaling can be done with words, bullet points, pictures, lyrics, drawings, and more. What comes natural to you, is the right way to journal.
Mental Health & Journaling 