Dear CMI:

You wrote: ” in the interest of self-preservation, extending compassion and empathy requires a certain mentality of watching one’s back for the possibility of an approaching knife”-

Often people extend empathy to people who already hurt them in the past and keep hurting, repeatedly. So that would be, using your image, a knife coming from the front.

For a win-win relationship it is important to get to know the person over time before getting too attached and too invested. That way you keep your thinking objective enough to see clearly.

anita