Don’t Let Anyone Talk You Out of Enforcing Your Boundaries
by Guillermo Vidal | Feb 28, 2021 | Becoming Your Best Self
Setting and enforcing boundaries is necessary if you want to maintain healthy relationships. Many of us, however, were trained to do exactly the opposite. Our parents, teachers and mentors convinced us that it was selfish to take care of our needs before the needs of others. They also taught us to adhere to rules of our family adults and those of people in authority.
The unintended consequences of such teachings were that they caused us to seek the approval of others to establish our worth. Doing so made us acquiescent to the desire of others. This is certainly what happened to me.
After decades of people pleasing, I found myself unhappy and unfulfilled. Not only was I living a life I didn’t desire, I had no sense for what I wanted. The road to wholeness began when I decided that the aforementioned teachings my parents and mentors had taught me were misguided.
Don’t get me wrong, I believe it is good to be kind and loving towards others. But it is a bad idea to continually set aside your needs to fulfill the desires of others. The only person you need to please is you.
