Boundaries & Limits - Keys to Freedom

I received this in my email box and I whole heartily agree with it all, so I thought I would share it. Why create the wheel when one already exists?

I have always said that boundaries are a good thing and we should practice them every day because they help us manage our energy. We use boundaries to stay aligned with what we want to be and have in our lives, and what serves us best. While we tend to think of them as a means of keeping people and things out of our lives, they really don’t. Instead, they act as the energetic admission criteria for our connections. Limits represent how far we can or are willing to go in any situation and they become limitations when they prevent us from moving forward. Together, boundaries and limits are our keys to freedom because they help us manage our energy, who we connect with and who connects with us, what we allow into our lives and what we reject.

Imagine yourself without boundaries, where anyone and anything can enter your life at will and do whatever they want to do. Have you ever had no boundaries with someone? They do not respect you and do whatever they want to do and you tolerate it, until you reach the moment where you can no longer do so. Then you react in anger and blame them for mistreating you but it isn’t their fault, you had no boundaries, no way of communicating to them what you consider to be acceptable behavior, and how you expect people to act around you. Do you have boundaries for the amount and type of respect, honor, and love you want from others? Is it time to set some boundaries? They may not make others change their behavior, but they will remove the people who don’t respect and honor you from your life.

Limits represent the most or the least that we will do in a situation. For example, I enjoy many outdoor activities but I don’t like camping. So while I will go hiking, kayaking, and  spend time in nature, I won’t do activities that include camping. What are your limits with the situations and people in your life? What are you willing to do and where do you draw the line? It’s important to know our limits because they, with boundaries, teach people how to act around us. They represent the energetic price of admission for everyone and everything we connect with or who want to connect with us.
Limits become limitations when we are afraid to allow change and transformation to occur. If we limit ourselves to what we have known in the past, then anything new becomes part of a fear zone that we are afraid to enter. Boundaries become walls when are afraid that we have to defend ourselves against people and situations. That only happens when we aren’t grounded in our own energy and don’t respect our own boundaries. If we, for example, are so concerned that people won’t like us, then we will willingly remove our boundaries to have the love we want from others, whether or not they are a good fit energetically.

We need boundaries and limits to be clear in our intention for our lives. It doesn’t serve anyone when we are without boundaries because without them, we attract people and situations from our fears, rather than from our highest energies. We also need to know and respect our limits, those things that we do not want to do or do not believe we can do, without allowing them to become limitations.  And we need to respect others’ boundaries and limits too, honoring their choices whether or not we agree with them, allowing what resonates and is aligned with us to joyfully connect with us and everything that does not, to move on along its own path.

And in case you were wondering, I have been camping before and it’s because of my former camping experiences that I won’t do it any more. I prefer a soft bed, hot shower, and room service for breakfast.

Copyright (c) 2014 by Jennifer Hoffman. All rights reserved.  You may quote, translate, reprint or refer to this message if you mention the author name and include a working link to http://enlighteninglife.com