What holds this fragile man upright?

Coping has been somewhat tedious. It forces one to become terribly introspective and begin a process of repressing what appear to be natural tendencies to concern oneself with what another person may be doing, thinking, and more.  Of course, this is a deep, dark rat hole with no exit.  Seeing that is healthy.  Nonetheless, I lean in that direction.  Though less every day, my mind tends to drift back to that center point, at often, the worst possible occasions.  This hails back to a previous question of whether it’s better to allow that feeling and thought to play out, or should I snap myself back to the present and ignore those thoughts, ergo feelings they can manifest.  Look, the answer is simply time and patience.  I know that.  The frustration lies in comments that I receive from time to time in concert with long, quiet bus rides.  This weekend was “you’re switched off inside, and it’s obvious to everyone but you”.  Eeek.  Though these are the estuaries of thought that only could be runoff from the mind of a silly young girl, they may not be completely without merit.  I took some notes this weekend in a most peculiar of scenarios from an unlikely critic.  These may have lacked a certain poignancy, and weren’t phrased with an eloquence or tact I may need in this phase of healing. However, they did indeed cut into flesh and expose what holds this fragile man upright.  Not much.  Perhaps in another post I’ll address the “I have 4 questions for you” that she asked.  I’m still working on the first.  Let’s just say the answer is “no, I would not” and coping with that truth hurts more than the first arrow.