I feel I am too soft with people, and I worry that showing mercy and forgiving so readily will make others take advantage of me. Is gentleness actually weakness?
The gentleness you are afraid of is not weakness. It is strength that has learned to bend without breaking. The worry is a fair one, so let us look at it properly.
Mercy has never made anyone smaller. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said the opposite of what the world says:
“Charity does not decrease wealth, and Allah does not increase a servant in anything for forgiveness except in honour.”
The Prophet (peace be upon him), Sahih Muslim (2588) · meaning
Read that promise slowly. The One who owns honour tells you that forgiving does not lower you, it raises you. So the fear that pardoning others will diminish you already has its answer. On the surface it can look as though the one who forgives lost the exchange, but in the accounting that actually matters, he has only risen.
Does gentleness then mean having no boundary at all? Look closely at the life of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and the answer is there:
“The Prophet never took revenge for his own sake, but when the sacred limits of Allah were violated, he would take retribution for the sake of Allah.”
Aisha, about the Prophet (peace be upon him), Sahih al-Bukhari (3560) · meaning
Notice the balance. For insults and injuries aimed at his own person he forgave freely, an ocean of forbearance. Where the sacred limits of Allah were crossed, where truth and justice themselves were at stake, he stood firm. That is your model too. Mercy for the wound to your own pride, quiet firmness where a real principle must be protected. Gentleness and a clear boundary are not opposites; they are two hands of the same heart. And this is something we notice quietly in ourselves: a heart that forgives while keeping a clear limit keeps its dignity intact, while yielding endlessly, with no limit at all, slowly wears that dignity thin.
There is also a fruit of the merciful path that harshness can never reach:
“Good and evil are not equal. Repel evil with what is better, and then the one between whom and you there was enmity will become as though he were a devoted friend.”
Qur’an, Fussilat 41:34 · meaning
Retaliation can win an argument. Only gentleness can win a heart and turn an enemy into a friend. That is a strength no harshness could ever purchase. So do not shrink your mercy; pair it with wisdom, and you will find that your softness was your power all along.
One small step: Think of one person who has troubled you, and choose a single gentle good turn toward them this week, while calmly holding your fair limit; watch how a soft answer begins to soften the air between you.