I don't know if this will be of use to you, but here are my thoughts:
Feeling like you can't count on people can become a pretty vicious cycle, because a lot of people who are supportive and caring towards others, such as yourself, feel as though if they DON'T bend over backwards for others, those friends won't be there for you when you need them. I wish I could tell you an easy way out of this. All I can say is that you are more than worthy of the love, care, and respect of friends, even if you decide not to put your neck out for them. It sounds like things suck right now, but you can always make new friends (as difficult as that can sometimes be at first) and start fresh with them by setting boundaries on how much of yourself you give. That may feel weird for you, like you're holding back, but if its the case that you often feel taken advantage of, its important to take stock of your needs and expectations of others and act on them. You can also try to make these needs clear to the friends you are having problems with now through open and honest discussion (they may not realize they're being selfish). The most important thing is for you to start taking care of yourself, and maybe explore why you feel so obligated towards your friends (its obviously a socially reinforced/desirable quality, but in its extreme form it may serve to create an imbalance of respect and lead others to take you for granted).
Feeling like you can't count on people can become a pretty vicious cycle, because a lot of people who are supportive and caring towards others, such as yourself, feel as though if they DON'T bend over backwards for others, those friends won't be there for you when you need them. I wish I could tell you an easy way out of this. All I can say is that you are more than worthy of the love, care, and respect of friends, even if you decide not to put your neck out for them. It sounds like things suck right now, but you can always make new friends (as difficult as that can sometimes be at first) and start fresh with them by setting boundaries on how much of yourself you give. That may feel weird for you, like you're holding back, but if its the case that you often feel taken advantage of, its important to take stock of your needs and expectations of others and act on them. You can also try to make these needs clear to the friends you are having problems with now through open and honest discussion (they may not realize they're being selfish). The most important thing is for you to start taking care of yourself, and maybe explore why you feel so obligated towards your friends (its obviously a socially reinforced/desirable quality, but in its extreme form it may serve to create an imbalance of respect and lead others to take you for granted).
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