Should you stay friends with an ex-romantic partner?
Where do you draw boundaries?
The comfort of a familiar face.
The spark of old memories.
Our hearts cling to the beautiful remnants even as the present crumbles away.
Yet the past permeates the boundaries of today, coloring interactions with expectations no longer valid.
Nostalgia clouds judgment when crafting the new normal.
What once was can never be again.
The music has stopped, and we vainly grope for rhythms now discordant.
Protecting the Self
With gentle compassion we must honor the self, establishing fences to safeguard our inner peace.
Firm kindness to guide the way forward, not harsh barricades that prohibit growth.
What we allow in is just as vital as keeping out.
Choosing when to open and close the gates around our wellbeing.
Discerning when a fragment of before can enrich today, or only derail progress.
The heart may be tempted to cling to a shadow of the past. But the soul knows when it is time to let go.
Where to Draw the Line
Like the shoreline, the boundaries between friends and ex-lovers remain fluid, ever-shifting in response to the tides of life. When lingering attachments inhibit either from sailing ahead unfettered, the borders between must be fortified.
Constructing breakwaters to divert painful patterns, allowing both vessels to chart new courses. With time and distance, the waters often calm.
Then gentler boundaries may permit friendly anchors amidst one another’s harbors.
So long as the tides between remain peaceful and unencumbered. Navigation relies on wisdom, not rules.
We feel out the passage ahead with care and patience. There may be storms, but the clouds always pass.
Charting the course forward with compassion and trust in the journey.
