In all healthy relationships, it's important not to forget your own needs.

It's important to maintain boundaries in healthy relatiosnhips.

Self-care is important across the life span.

Many people were taught that love means selflessness. But self-erasure does not create strong relationships; it often produces resentment, anxiety, and a relationship in which neither person is fully known and seen.

Losing yourself is not the same as being close to another person. It is an unhealthy fusion in which you give away too much of yourself. This can happen during any stage of life and across generations. For example, many caregivers in the “sandwich generation” are simultaneously supporting children and aging relatives, leaving little room for their own needs. According to Sparrow, 42% of caregivers are part of the sandwich generation, simultaneously caring for both young children and aging relatives.

What Is Loving Without Losing Yourself?

Loving without losing yourself means staying connected to others while remaining loyal to your own truth, body, needs, and voice. Many people have spent decades caring for children, partners, parents, friends, communities, and work. The capacity to love deeply is a strength. Yet when care repeatedly requires us to abandon our needs, silence our truth, or override our limits, love can lead to exhaustion and depletion.

It’s important to remember that if a relationship includes threats,........

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