Boundaries are super important in a self-love journey.
Everyone has an agenda to get somewhere financially, physically, emotionally, and spiritually, which makes boundaries crucial for maintaining healthy relationships, whether with friends, family, coworkers, or romantic partners. Boundaries define acceptable and unacceptable behavior in a relationship and help us communicate our needs and expectations to others. I have found that setting boundaries is essential to protect your physical and emotional well-being:
When you set boundaries, you are communicating to others what you will and will not tolerate. It can help protect you from physical harm and or emotional distress. Healthy boundaries help to create respect and heightened communication skills that ward off frustrations and misunderstandings. I only recently developed this skill set because my rearing was at the hand of a relentless people pleaser; I had to learn from my daughter.
I did not get it; children were supposed to do as their parents said, no matter what. They did not get to say what they liked or didn’t like, how they felt or did not feel. If I wanted to discuss something with her, she automatically was expected to stop doing whatever she was doing and sit and listen to me. I did not know how to respect boundaries, and I found setting them even harder. She and I fought every day with no avail in sight, then one day, something clicked.
I understood that I was insensitive to her feelings while demanding she recognize mine.
Once I decided to show up in our relationship, things began to change. What I mean by show-up is to start viewing her as a person and not something I own. She has feelings, obligations, and responsibilities outside my own. She has a right to relax, sleep or eat when she needs to, not when, where, or how I decided. Listen, we all are selfish to a degree, and we should be by design because it’s human nature to want what we want, but when we are up against pressure to do that which does not work out for us, step away and find your alignment. You deserve your peace of mind, body, and Spirit.
One of my favorite Spiritual Channels Abraham Hicks, often speaks about people who will call you “Selfish” when you refuse to do something that they want you to do for their benefit but does not have anything to do with yours; she points out who the real selfish player is in that moment, and it’s true. My daughter and I are much better thanks to my learning how to respect and set boundaries of my own.
Featured image credited to Liv Bruce via Unsplash.
