Is it really that good to be so popular?

Is it possible?  Could everyone be losing their minds at the same time?  Could there really be something in the water?  Something's going on around here.  Lives, whether yours, mine, or anyone else's, go around in cycles.  They ebb and flow sometimes in a beautiful fluid dance with the lives around them, and sometimes in great conflict.  In between those conflicted moments can be moments of peace and clarity, at least to some degree.  It's beginning to feel like things have gone haywire. 

The last two months, or so, have been interesting.  Chaos, inbound from all directions.  This one had a heart thing, not really an attack but she almost died.  That one is getting divorced because she went to dinner with an old friend, even the the husband has had a girlfriend for two years.  That one has a classes teenager who treats her like crap in public.  Yet another is having to take in distant nieces that she's never met because her cousin she doesn't know got thrown in jail for drugs.  Whew, breathe.  Talk about drama.

So, I have become the "go to" girl for people to vent.  I am honored to be held in such high esteem, to be trusted with the details of their personal lives.  Unfortunately, my emotions tend to act like a sponge.  The spew forth, and I soak it up.  It isn't intentional, but I get drained and snippy and mean just from listening to all this stuff. 

I have decided, for the sake of my sanity and that of my family, that I will do a much better job of screening my calls.  I will only deal with so many crises a day, no exceptions.  I will not go in search of drama or ask any probing questions.  I will bite my tongue and let them speak without offering any advice.  I will be an ear and a shoulder and move on.  I care for these people, but I cannot ride their rollercoasters and think that I will not get sick when it's time to ride my own.

Besides, it's funny how I'm always there when someone needs me, yet the few time I actually ask for help, they all run for the hills.  Not liking that part at all, yet can't really start acting petty while they're going through some serious stuff.  I can hear the settling in of resentment, and it too is making me sick.