Not everyone reciprocates the gesture.

并不是每個(gè)人都會(huì)回應(yīng)你的付出。

This is a hard truth but it’s true.

這是個(gè)殘酷的事實(shí)，但現(xiàn)實(shí)的確如此。

If other people poured the same amount of effort into me as I pour into them, things would probably be different, but things aren’t always equal in friendships and relationships.

如果別人對(duì)我的付出，跟我對(duì)別人的付出一樣多，現(xiàn)實(shí)可能會(huì)有所不同。然而，友情和愛情中的付出總是不對(duì)等。

I honestly think that we should help other people and take care of them because it’s a good thing to do, not because we want something back.

老實(shí)說，我覺得我們應(yīng)該幫助和關(guān)心別人，僅僅因?yàn)檫@是一種善舉，而不是想要有所回報(bào)。

But by the same token, if we’re not getting anything back to sustain us when we need it, we shouldn’t help people to the point where we drain our own resources.

可是，由此類推，當(dāng)我們需要幫助，卻什么都得不到的時(shí)候，我們就不應(yīng)該耗盡所有精力去幫助別人了。

I’m not being selfish.

我并不是自私。

Putting yourself first feels so wrong when you first start doing it.

剛開始去把自己放在第一位的時(shí)候，你會(huì)覺得很不好意思。

If you’re used to erasing your own needs to look after others, it seems too self-indulgent.

如果你習(xí)慣壓抑自己的需求去幫助別人，以自己為優(yōu)先的話，就會(huì)顯得很任性。

But actually,the only way to consistently and effectively help other people in the long-termis to make sure you’re in a good place yourself.

但是實(shí)際上，持續(xù)且高效地幫助別人的唯一方法，就是先讓自己保持良好的狀態(tài)。