Let me tell you from firsthand experience that feeling everything with every fiber of your being is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing in that the way you interact with the world is beautiful to see, deriving meaning from every experience, interaction and act and allowing it to fill you up until you overflow means you’re rarely empty. Being oversensitive to the feelings and emotions of others allows you to have deeper connections and relationships and fill everyone else up, too. Letting yourself be inspired by everyday activities and being unapologetically passionate enriches your life and it is nothing to be ashamed of. Wearing a huge heart on your sleeve for the world to see and being vulnerable gives others permission to do the same and that is a life-changing thing.

But when does caring a lot turn into caring too much? Maybe it’s that time you allowed a friend to treat you terribly for the sake of keeping the relationship in tact. It does not matter that it caused you to have an anxiety attack after an argument, as long as the person still knew that you’d be there for them if they need you. Maybe it’s that time you felt physically sick to your stomach after watching a tragedy unfold on the news. Maybe you received a letter in the mail from someone who decided to cut you out of his or her life and act as if your relationship never existed. It could be as simple as crying while watching a sad movie.

Whatever it is, chances are you’ve been left wondering why you can’t just hit a switch and not be so overly emotional and anxious about circumstances that you cannot control. You may wonder if you have a sign on your forehead that says: “Walk all over me, I’m nice.” You may even struggle with standing up for yourself because you’re worried that it will negatively impact or hurt the feelings of whoever is involved, even though your personal feelings and worth are completely compromised at the time.

I’m here to tell you that feeling too much is still worth it. Some people go their entire lives not feeling anything until they’re on their deathbed feeling regret.

Keep crying happy tears when you hear good news, keep holding hands and giving hugs, keep pouring out into the world and, most importantly, keep wearing that huge heart of yours on your sleeve for the world to see.

You never know when you’ll need that sleeve to wipe the tears of someone else, and I promise you, when you do, you’ll be doing what you were put on this earth to do.

And that is the biggest blessing.