We have all felt that gut wrenching feeling when someone you care about is hurt or upset. The feeling of vulnerability when there is nothing you can do to help is overwhelming and consuming and makes you feel like you'rea part of the problem when it has nothing to do with you. To put this in perspective, let me paint a picture for you.

Your best friend walks in, visibly upset and you immediately want to fix the situation. You are unsure of the problem which makes you unaware of the best way to respond but a siren is going off in your head and heart to fix it.

Fix the problem, find a solution and fast.

Your goal isn't to be intrusive, just to make the hurt/anger or sadness go away. It's hard to admit to yourself you can't always help. It's not about you, sometimes there isn't a set solution or someone needs to work through the situation on their own.

You can be their shoulder to cry on or their cheerleader when it's all over, but your actions won't make it better.

On the other hand, it's so frustrating when someone always asks for advice and never seems to take it. They come to you with a problem and expect advice that will validate how they feel about the situation or give them the motivation or courage to do something about the issue they are facing.

If the advice is not what they want to hear, they may lash out at you. Not because they are mad at you but because they may have been questioning their own choices or ideas and you agreed with their fears.

It's hard to remind yourself that it has nothing to do with you in those situations when you were just going out of your way to help. However, if you know you stuck true to yourself with your advice and would have followed it yourself, then you just need to keep your head up and maybe just be a listening ear when other situations arise.

Its assumed that you think you have it all together when you try to help others. Believe me, that’s the farthest thing from the truth. Many are dealing with their own issues and experiencing their own sadness, so they want to help prohibit others from feeling the way that they feel.

Feeling alone and out of control in a world much bigger than you and I is overwhelming and so on a smaller scale,to do as much as you can to have positive interactions with others is extremely important. Just like you were taught as a child, you never know what someone is going through.

From your fellow happiness fixer, it's okay to want to help however it's not okay to blame yourself for not being able to make someone else's situation better.

Now don’t get me wrong, they don’t blame you, those words never come out of their mouth. Your own need to fix the situation causes you to feel that way.

Give honest advice that you live your life abiding by, be supportive and don't focus on making everyone else around you happy. Find happiness inward and it will spread outward on its own. Believe me, it's contagious.