Limits

Dear Seekers,

If you struggle with boundaries, you struggle with setting limits. Personal boundaries can be hard to maintain for many reasons, and one of them is that they require you to first accept that you are lacking something (skill, capacity, energy, time, or interest) and then to communicate that deficiency to relevant others. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with not having or not wanting to use the fuel in your tank, saying "I can't" or "I won't" is a bold admission in a culture that is constantly encouraging us to "level up," "break the glass ceiling," and "don't quit." On the other hand, sometimes pushing past your limits can stretch you and take you places that improve or change the course of your life--I remember the empowered feeling I had when I ran my first half marathon, or gave birth without pain medication, or screamed "I love you" in a public park to someone that I wasn't sure was going to say it back.