Do you have trouble honoring healthy boundaries for yourself? If so, you may find yourself building up resentment, or even doing things you regret because of the lack of balance in your life. Here’s a novel way of looking at the effects of not keeping healthy boundaries, and a great perspective on why it’s important.
Can you imagine what it would be like to swallow a marble?
If you are a legacy entrepreneur or you have ever worked in a high stress situation, you may not have literally swallowed marbles, but perhaps you have swallowed some figuratively.
Let me explain…
Let’s say your work-day is done.
You are exhausted and ready to walk out the door when you get a call from a client who knows it is not during your business hours.
You grudgingly answer the call anyway and end up being late for a special dinner date with your significant other.
When you arrive and are greeted with a disapproving look from your partner, you bark out an injured response about how they have no idea what kind of day you have had.
From there, the evening goes downhill.
You swallowed a marble when you answered the phone call. And then it came back up and shot out on your partner when you saw the disapproving glance.
You see, every time you do something that causes you to feel resentful, it’s like swallowing a marble.
One or two marbles may not be too terrible. But, if you swallow twenty marbles over the course of a day, eventually, they’re going to start coming up.
And there’s a good chance they’ll end up being catapulted toward someone in your life who doesn’t deserve it… like your partner, or the clerk at the grocery store, or your pet…
If this sounds way too familiar, you may need a crash course in healthy boundaries.
It is your responsibility to set and honor healthy boundaries for yourself.
So, when you take a call that you shouldn’t have taken and arrive late for an appointment because of it, you are not the victim.
You made a choice.
And, while your client may not have received the marble blow, they certainly did not get the best version of you. Your partner, on the other hand, got something he/she did not deserve at all. And now, you’re left feeling guilty and disappointed with yourself.
I am a strong advocate for defined office hours, and other forms of healthy boundaries.
Because when you have healthy boundaries, you give yourself a gift of personal power.
(You are not standing in your power when you are harboring resentment). You give your clients and family members the gift of a you that is not bitter with resentment. And you spare yourself the guilt and shame that comes in the aftermath of an irrational outburst.
So, mind your marbles and set healthy boundaries! No one else can do it for you!
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And if you know a friend or neighbor who could use hearing the advice in this article or needs The Job I Love Toolkit, please forward this to them.