Caring about someone doesn’t mean you have to feel every one of their feelings for them.

Absorbing somebody’s state often gets mistaken for love, and it tends to leave two people underwater instead of one. Steadiness is more useful to a person in trouble than matching them, because it gives them something to hold that is not also sinking. You can be moved by what somebody is going through without being flooded by it.

When someone is struggling this week, try staying warm and separate. Listen, ask what would help, keep your own footing. If you find yourself carrying their mood into the next day, that is a signal to step back slightly rather than to try harder.