When I was in grade school I wanted to become a psychiatrist because I saw my role in life as that of a "fixer". When classmates had a problem they would always come to me for help. At first this made me feel good about myself.
Later on in college and probably up to my mid thirties, my strategy with women was to be the confidante who fixed all their problems for them. In my late twenties it began to dawn on me that they never really appreciated what I had done for them, so by about 35 I just stopped trying to fix other people's problems--even when they asked.
What I have come to realize is that most people are wedded to their problems and really don't want to let go of them, despite what they may say.
Finally, constantly hearing about other people's problems just gets to be a drag after a certain amount of time.
Half the battle is in simply recognizing that you have this problem. The easier half is to start emitting signals that tell the world you are no longer a walking dumping site for problems.
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