SETTING LIMITS, LIVING FULLY

“A boundary is not something that separates us; it's something that helps us stay connected to ourselves. ”-unknown. Boundaries serve an imperative purpose. Boundaries encourage us to learn about what limits we need for ourselves and what we have control over. Some boundaries may include our emotions, time, social relationships, technology use, work functioning, physical health, and mental health. 

Setting boundaries

Our world is fast paced and demanding, which makes it very easy to get lost in the day-to-day tasks requiring our attention, including how we juggle everything and promote balance. Setting mental health boundaries promotes your psychological and emotional wellness, as they encourage you to review the way you manage your responsibilities, including demands of work, relational or social expectations, and your own needs. Throughout my work with others, I often see a theme of hesitation when I begin discussing boundaries and the impact they can have on our lives. Remember, boundaries aren’t about shutting people out. Boundaries are about your self-awareness and encourage you to promote realistic expectations for yourself. Boundaries impact the way you see yourself and the way you show up for others.

Boundaries help promote your time and energy, evaluating when to say yes or no, when to give an explanation and when you protect your energy and time. Boundaries help promote our own self-care while also encouraging others to respect our emotions and needs. By setting and implementing boundaries, you show yourself that your needs and emotions are important. You must learn to value yourself, your time, feelings and needs and setting boundaries is one way to practice this.

Start small

Start reviewing where you may need more balance in your life. Create space to reflect on this and allow yourself to be vulnerable. The world will constantly be demanding of your time and energy, but you must prioritize your mental health, your time, your effort, your energy and your overall quality of living. You can create a space for yourself to reflect on ways you can create boundaries that are meaningful and sustainable to improve your areas of functioning. After all, boundaries are all about noticing what you truly have control over. You can control your own actions, feelings, and response. Take sometime today to create a space to promote self-control and prioritize your needs, then put into practice.

Empowerment

While no one has the ability to control every single thing, you can control how you respond and what you promote into your life. Promote your mental peace and limit exposure to negative things that you truly do not have control over. Focus your energy on things and people that are uplifting, supportive and respect your boundaries. Just think about social media as an example. Are your social media accounts bombarding you with notifications and information? Most of us will answer yes to this. How can you set a boundary so the information you are exposed to can be more fulfilling to what is actually important to you? Our digital environment can help us connect to things in our daily lives, however, if you are unable to identify boundaries, your online presence may be causing you greater negativity. Set a boundary to acknowledge what is helping or hindering you and feel empowered to step back from a practice to reset, refocus and recharge.

Try to work towards less guilt and more empowerment as you recognize and prioritize your needs during boundary setting and implementation. Boundaries are a self-care practice that empowers you to set limitations and enhancing your living. Whenever you start noticing you are doubting your boundaries, try to remind yourself that your mental health, time and energy are valuable and deserving of your efforts to preserve your wellbeing and promote balance. "The greatest act of self-care is setting boundaries."-Unknown

With kindness,

Julie