Boundaries.
Sometimes it’s hard to know where and how to draw the line. I think, often, we get caught up in asking ourselves how much more we can take instead of asking ourselves how we want to be treated, Many of us have been conditioned to give, to “take it”, and focus on the needs of others to prove we are good people… good enough to deserve love. Drawing the line means putting ourselves first and we have been taught this is wrong and selfish. We may even FEEL wrong and selfish when we do it. But, it must be done. Sometimes, we must draw the line. Drawing the line is how we honor our truth. This is one of the ways we love ourselves. It can be a hard line that we draw; a non-negotiable dealbreaker. Or it can be a soft line; a boundary that you might set aside but that still needs to be respected and followed up on. As an example, a hard line needs to be drawn when something/someone hurts my kids; a soft line needs to be drawn when my son forgets to do a chore. We get to decide what kind of line to draw and when, based on how we want to be treated. Next time you are tempted to ask yourself “How much more of this can I take?”, I challenge you to ask yourself instead: “Is this how I want to be treated?”
Shamin Brown Consulting 