Surviving The Love Bug: How To Not Lose Yourself In an Over-Giving Relationship

How to protect and not lose yourself when the desire for love leads to over-giving in relationships

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Anyone close to me knows that I am a love bug.

At my deepest core, my primary need is to connect. I want to be completely engulfed in a relationship — to have a person hold me in their arms, to have a conversation that lasts 3 hours or more, to share a nice meal together. These desires are so powerful that they can feel like an intoxicating drug.

In my twenties, I would completely disappear into a relationship,: “If I love you, you can have everything. You can have my time, my devotion, my ass, my money, my family, my dog, my dog’s money, my dog’s time—everything.”