Boundaries!

It is so important to set boundaries!

When you think about all the ways in which we have to bend our own boundaries to accommodate people who think we are being unreasonable with them, you really begin to notice how disrespectful that is to yourself because, at the end of the day, you’re making yourself uncomfortable and you’re putting your own peace of mind on the line because someone out there does not understand what it means to respect your boundaries.

It’s almost as though you blame yourself for setting those boundaries in the first place.

You see the problem? Not respecting your own boundaries makes you think that they’re not valid for se reason. As a result, you somehow end up making yourself more uncomfortable than you would have been.

Of course, I am not implying that it is your fault for not being able to draw a clear line because I get how hard that can be, especially around people who try to shift all the blame onto you. If it were a perfect world, everyone would respect each other’s boundaries.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where that is not the case. People think it is perfectly okay to make decisions for you, without so much as asking for your opinion first, and then they wonder why we never bother to show them any respect. Let me tell you this, no matter how much somebody thinks they know about you, they are not in a position to make decisions for you regarding what you might like or dislike. That is just so wrong on so many levels.

I don’t know if anybody ever hears this enough, but please set your own boundaries. Parents, if you’re reading this, please teach your kids to set their own boundaries and respect their boundaries if they have set some things out of your reach. Respect boundaries set by your best friends, your own family members, even! This is something that shouldn’t have to be spelled out because it’s just basic human decency, but the thing is, this is something that we realize that we haven’t really been given a lot over the time.

There will always be instances where we’ll have to bend our boundaries to accommodate people where we wouldn’t particularly want to, but the more we actually practice enforcing our own boundaries, the less likely we will be to giving in. It’s not perfect, and we aren’t, either. Sometimes, exceptions need to be made. But I still think we need to start setting boundaries where they’re needed.

If anything, for our own peace of mind.

Cheerio! Xx

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Featured Image by John Canty on Unsplash.