I'm at -- hopefully -- the tail end of a long and deep burnout. I can summarize the experience as doing what other people wanted against / at the expense of my own wishes. Life always involves a certain amount of this, but in my case it came to dominate and to define my life.
Doing such things should be held to the level where they merely and as optimally as possible enable your own wishes. Not that this does NOT preclude altruism. I practice altruism and take great pleasure from it. But then, it can thusly be seen as one of my wishes -- when I approach it on my terms.
For a long time, work and neighbors wanted me to meet their needs. But they paid little or no attention to mine. Very one way, and very draining. Don't mistake profession of mutual interest by another party for actual interest on their part. (Actions speak louder than words.) If you continue to be rather underwhelmed at what they offer in return, it's a good sign that your interests do not align. You are at the edge of the tar pit of burnout; turn around, before you turn into one of those fossils that will one day be displayed in a museum. Very undignified. ;-)
Doing such things should be held to the level where they merely and as optimally as possible enable your own wishes. Not that this does NOT preclude altruism. I practice altruism and take great pleasure from it. But then, it can thusly be seen as one of my wishes -- when I approach it on my terms.
For a long time, work and neighbors wanted me to meet their needs. But they paid little or no attention to mine. Very one way, and very draining. Don't mistake profession of mutual interest by another party for actual interest on their part. (Actions speak louder than words.) If you continue to be rather underwhelmed at what they offer in return, it's a good sign that your interests do not align. You are at the edge of the tar pit of burnout; turn around, before you turn into one of those fossils that will one day be displayed in a museum. Very undignified. ;-)