Some people leave every conversation with more energy and you with less. That’s not a coincidence.

Attention is a resource and some interactions are one directional. You listen, you reassure, you manage the mood, and they leave lighter while you carry the rest of it into your evening. It is not always deliberate and it does not make them a bad person. It does mean the exchange is not actually an exchange.

Notice how you feel walking away from your regular conversations this week, before you decide anything about them. If one name keeps coming up, shorten those conversations rather than ending them, and see whether it balances. Save your longer hours for the people you leave feeling better than you arrived.