Am I being selfish or reasonable?

Hi lovies!

First things first! Happy women’s month. I’ve been MIA but I’m back and I’m better now *chuckles* and there’s something that has been on my mind for the past couple of weeks that I’d like to share with you and perhaps get your take on the matter.

Have you ever heard the saying, ” you can’t give what you don’t have” or “you can’t pour from an empty cup” ? I’d like to believe that I am a generous person and seeing other people happy gives me joy and being able to make someone’s day better makes me happy. With that said, I like many other people would go out of my way just to help a dear friend or be there for them. I really hate seeing someone sad knowing that I could cheer them up and yet I’m not. But where do we draw the line which defines what we can and cannot do for others. Would saying “no” to people make us mean,uncaring and unemphatic? Would that make us selfish and horrible friends?

I do understand that we have to look after ourselves and make sure that we a healthy in every possible way, be it mentally, emotionally and physically. Thus the saying “you can’t give what you don’t have” . You cannot offer emotional support while you’re running on empty and you are on the verge of a breakdown. You cannot be physically there for your loved ones while you aren’t well or while you are going through an ailment,especially if its contagious. So my question now is : at what point do you stop everything, put everyone else needs aside and focus solely on yourself?

When do you realise that you have to start focusing on yourself and you have to put yourself first? Do you deem it as being selfish or is it a necessity that you can’t do without? I think that this is something that a lot of people have a hard time dealing with so please tell me down below in the comments section, how do you say “nope I’m focusing on me” or how do you let a loved one know that you cannot be of assistance because you might have your own issues/problems to tackle.

Peace,love and light😘😘