Dear cath:

You have no social support, as you indicated, not a boyfriend and not a parent who is there for you. Your mother is adding to your distress, not taking any of it away. It would be better for you to move out and leave your mother to attend to her business without burdening you.

How do you get the strength, you asked. By connecting with another, having some sort of social support. And until you have people in your life to support you in person, here on tiny buddha, I at the least, will be here. Every time I read a post by you, I will answer.

You are welcome here to talk to me, to others, to express yourself, your needs, feelings, sadness, anything and everything, and as I wrote, I will read. “listen” and respond. Doing this, sharing here is a proactive move on your part: you choose to do so, you initiate what and how much to share and you open yourself to feedback, and evaluating what is helpful to you, and what is not.

I find a lot of support on this forum. It works for me, so why couldn’t it work for you…?

The strength you need is within you but as the social beings that we are, we need someone to help bring it out, feel it and realize it.

anita