If the situation is in any way harmful to you (physically/mentally/emotionally), you have the right to preserve yourself from it. This is not being self-centered, in my book. If you still care about how the other party involved feels, but just can't involve yourself in the situation any longer, this is perfectly okay.
However, when you get to the point where you no longer care about how what you do affects others, that is when you become self centered. It can be a very fuzzy line, really, and a lot of it has to do with perceptions.
If you had a particular situation that was toxic to you, and you feel bad about having to remove it from your life because of others' feelings, you could sit down with that person and explain why you can't be involved in the situation any more (diplomatically, of course), and hope that they would understand. That way, you are still being considerate of their feelings (by at least giving them an explanation of why you are distancing yourself).
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-04-19 01:39 am (UTC)However, when you get to the point where you no longer care about how what you do affects others, that is when you become self centered. It can be a very fuzzy line, really, and a lot of it has to do with perceptions.
If you had a particular situation that was toxic to you, and you feel bad about having to remove it from your life because of others' feelings, you could sit down with that person and explain why you can't be involved in the situation any more (diplomatically, of course), and hope that they would understand. That way, you are still being considerate of their feelings (by at least giving them an explanation of why you are distancing yourself).
Does that make sense?