the irony of empathy

Why are we hardest on ourselves when we are already at our weakest?

I nurse others’ wounds without a second thought, yet I beat myself into self-loathed submission when my heartbreak becomes too much to bear.

I make endless excuses for others brokenness, yet I drag the shards of my brokenness across my own bleeding heart.

The trophy for lowest self esteem is not one I wanted to win.