Excessive Empathy and Becoming Distant from the Self

Core thought: “I kept building empathy until I could no longer return to myself.”

Empathy is a virtue that enlarges a person. But like every virtue without a boundary, after a point it begins to subtract the person from themselves. Someone who tries to understand everyone can eventually become unable to hear their own voice.

While trying to understand the pain, wounds, and reasons of others, a person can become a stranger to the inner world. Real balance is not only understanding the other person; it is also not neglecting oneself. Otherwise, a person becomes delicate toward others while becoming faint toward the self.