An empathetic and supportive person will attract positive energies that will bring about a harmonious environment, however, as you describe them:
A baby cries because it is hungry. We feed it.An old man drops his cane. We pick it up for him. An injured person needs a seat on the bus. We give them our seat. A friend is moving and doesn't have the money to hire movers. We either help her move or hire the movers for her.
They are situations that for many people escape from their capacity to want to help others, since in some specific situations the desire to want to help people can become an obsession to always want to help, despite the limitations that we suffer.
Thank you for sharing, this excellent reflection that invites us before increasing our capacity to serve, first attend to our physical needs psychological and spiritual well-being.
Yes, this is definitely a both/and situation. We must help ourselves before we have the capacity to help others. As they say on airplanes, in event of an emergency, put your mask on first. When we are sufficiently resourced and restored, we can be in touch with our natural desire to help others AND have the capacity to effectively do so. The importance of helping others varies from person to person, but for all of us there is some natural desire to be a positive influence in the lives of others. Our task is simply to realize our potential to whatever extent is true for us.