We can empathize with others without being moved to act. 

Not all problems require a solution. 

In fact, not all problems have a solution. 

Some problems are simply problems. 

Even if a solution is available, however, our intervention is not always necessary, advisable, or even desirable. 

There are times when merely feeling for someone is enough, when compassion without action is the best we can do. 

Empathy must have boundaries. 

Without boundaries, empathy makes us susceptible to the whims of emotion. 

Of course we should have feelings and they should inform our decisions and actions to some degree, but feelings can lie, deceive, and manipulate. 

Healthy boundaries tell us where the dividing line between feeling and action must be drawn. 

‘Empathetic Boundaries’ by Robert Van Valkenburgh

HOLISTIC BUDO: As in Life, so too in Budo. As in Budo, so too in Life.