Hi EL. We haven't met yet, but I don't usually let that stop me. :-)

The thing about the Golden Rule is, it's not meant as a means to ensure the happiness of the person who practices it. It doesn't say "Do unto others and they'll be sure to do the same back." It's not a way of forcing other people to act well; we can't force other people, for good or ill.

So what do we do if we're living by the Rule and not getting what we want? One thought is to try doing unto ourselves as we would hope others treat themselves. For instance, you would hope they would give themselves a break, sometimes. That ought to give you permission to give yourself a break, too.

Or you could try turning the Rule around a different way: if someone you cared about felt that you were taking too much from them, would you hope that they could tell you, so that you could stop?

So possibly the Rule wants us to stand up for ourselves, as well as give. After all, it says "do unto" rather than "give unto". Some of the doing could be asking for your needs to be met, too.