Member-only story
4 Signs You’re Being Too Supportive
It’s time to reassess
“You’re too supportive. I think it’s holding you back,” he said. I felt myself blink, opened my mouth and then shut it again, stunned. What had we even been talking about? His statement seemed to come out of nowhere.
“Okay,” I said finally. I waited for him to explain but he moved on to something else as if nothing had happened. I struggled to focus. I stood there in shock, feeling like I’d just been slapped.
Too supportive? What does that even mean? My mind replayed our two dates. We’d had a lot of fun. We’d laughed and got along well. He’d talked about his ex briefly and how he regretted dropping out of college when they broke up. I’d said, “It’s never too late to go back and finish”. I’d listened and empathized. Was that too supportive?
My date and I had known each other for a while. We hung out in similar circles and he’d seen me with my ex-husband. Had he noticed something about that relationship? Was that where I was too supportive?
What’s wrong with being too supportive anyway? I asked myself in the following days. Then it clicked. There’s a lot wrong.
