What they say is true, you can’t take care of someone else if you don’t take care of yourself, and part of taking care of yourself is knowing when enough is enough. Too often in life we take on more than we should, and then we experience the burnout and exhaustion that leaves us with no energy or fight to get up and do it all over again. Learn how to keep your energy high and boundaries protected with a couple of these ideas.
With Your Family
Family is an interesting dynamic – it ebbs and flows over the years, especially with parents and siblings. People you once depended on to keep you alive now drive you crazy. Learn how to have boundaries when it comes to these types of relationships in your life. Maybe you don’t need to share everything going on in your life with them, maybe you need to give yourself more love and attention when they are acting up but knowing where your limit is and holding strong will protect you and your sanity in the long run. Having open, calm, communication about setting your limits will keep everyone in the loop.
With Your Significant Other
You might be thinking you can’t set boundaries with the person you’ve chosen to share everything with, but that’s not the case. Listening to your body and what it needs is essential for caring and supporting someone else. If you need a night alone to take a bath and catch up on a good book, do so. You both need to take care of yourselves and no one knows what you need better than you. Being able to communicate those needs is essential for a perfect union.
With Strangers
Being a member of society means coming in contact with other people who are just trying to go about their day. By setting boundaries and realistic expectations that you might not always agree with or condone about someone else’s behavior in this world can be very freeing. Doing your part and being okay with it is in its own way setting a very important boundary. Not taking on the responsibility of fixing the world or making everything right will give you freedom to work on yourself and let the rest of the chips fall where they may.
With Yourself
One of the most important boundaries to maintain is the one with yourself. We wear many different hats, and one of those is the hat that pushes and motivates us. That hat is not always useful when you need to be paying more attention to self-care and rest. Knowing when to say enough is enough when it comes to pushing yourself will be your best asset. Always listen to your body and what it needs, and it will never steer you wrong. The problem comes in when we don’t maintain our boundaries and let outside influence, even from ourselves, sabotage our well-being.
Setting and maintaining boundaries is essential to healthy living. Learn how to listen to yourself and respect those needs and the rest will fall into place.
