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Sometimes setting a limit reveals more than another hundred acts of sacrifice ever could

They initially thought I was becoming selfish, but I saw it differently.

People can call a boundary selfish when they're used to having unlimited access to your effort

I still wanted to help, but I wasn't willing to keep hurting myself to do it.

That's the balance. Helping someone shouldn't require you to constantly abandon your own needs.

I also learned that being appreciated matters almost as much as being useful.

Nobody wants to feel like they're only valuable because of what they can provide