Originally Posted by
waiting313 
he also only praised me at the end of it all. he said i had kept him together, made him a better person, done more than anyone could ever do, etc... but me keeping him together so well helped him not have to think about what he needed to fix in himself.
since the discussion seems to be over about your involvement with him, i want to focus on this quoted piece from your post.
this fuels us. this helps us to believe that our calling in life is to help others. this is a huge ego stroke, for people like us.
we need to get our good feelings from just liking, and valuing ourselves - our whole selves. yes, we do good for others, but we should balance that with doing good for ourselves, and other things. i am a terrific employee, a pretty good mother, a great friend, etc.
i would suggest that you pick up a copy of "codependent no more" by melody beattie. she is the guru of many of us here @ sr. and....welcome.