Finding Freedom through Boundaries, Part 2

September 8, 2016

There is a correlation between the boundaries we set for ourselves and the amount of freedom and space we create in our lives. When we set quality boundaries, we experience a greater sense of freedom. When we set weak boundaries or none at all, we feel taken advantage of and even powerless, which reduces our sense of freedom and respect for who we are.

Brené Brown puts it well when she said: "When we fail to set boundaries and hold people accountable, we feel used and mistreated." I would also add that we feel this way when we fail to hold ourselves accountable to the boundaries we set.

I talked a lot about boundaries the other week in the first part of Freedom through Boundaries and I realize that this idea can become pretty abstract. So, my hope with this second part is to make the ideas more concrete by discussing some actual steps we can take to create appropriate boundaries.

Finding Freedom through Boundaries, Part 1

August 25, 2016

Through this vacation, I am finding that having too much unstructured time is not as easy as I thought it would be. I continue to be surprised and perplexed because I am not being as productive as I was when I had less free time. It is like I am paralyzed by too much free time.

If I have weeks upon weeks of unstructured time, time seems to just disappear. I spend it doing meaningless things. But I also know that if I have an overly structured, busy schedule with no free time, then I get so intimidated by the lack of time and I end up not getting anything done, either.

So my solution is to structure unstructured time. In other words, create a framework that allows for specific time to do anything I want, while still maintaining some sort of routine.