If the compassion or kindness keeps you avoiding some sort of pain in your life, by just continually letting it pass, then that would be “idiot compassion.”

Karen Kissel Wegela (who I interviewed on Psychcentral) argues that sometimes, “true compassion can be described as ‘ruthless.’” For example, we may need to withold the alcohol from the alcoholic even though it elicits pain or we may need to set boundaries with those who are hurtful. In other words, we need to be willing to act in the greater interest of health for ourselves and others and this requires a level of awareness that most of us don’t have in difficult moments.

So the question is, is your action in the greater interest of your health and well-being? I hope that helps…