Thanks for posting this, Impala. My own recent events have had me asking the same questions. I tend to be an active listener and many people depend on me to hear them out, ask the probative questions, lead the conversation toward the available solutions, etc. It has lately occurred to me that I have almost no one to talk to when I'm the one who needs/wants to talk. I think that I need to be needed.

My oldest friends have been rocks to me and I don't mean to discount their amazing contributions to my life, but at times, I sense that their perspective on our relationship is that I am the sounding board and they get the floor. Or, maybe, just maybe, my issues just aren't serious enough to warrant my level of discomfort. Honestly, I do live very independently and rarely present myself as one with needs. Perhaps it's my own doing and I am yielding the crop I have sown.

I take pride in the strength and loyalty I bring to friendships, and there are many who have appreciated me for those attributes. Just now, I am learning that they're, perhaps, not good enough or adequate or something, for one of my friends, and perhaps, that old "reason" "season" thing is in play. My heart is very heavy over it and I don't intend to invest myself that deeply again, anytime in the foreseeable future.