Let me introduce you to…
The Farmer
In “The Chasm Crosser”, the farmer is a simple, straight-forward man uncomfortable with taking sides in a controversy. But when he meets the Bridge Builder, he realizes that inaction is a choice as well. Will he let others’ opinions shape his thinking, or will he find the courage to take to stand on his own convictions?
Boundaries are a tough thing to keep sometimes. They’re supposed to be property lines, limits that tell us where we begin and where we end. But there ain’t a one of us who hasn’t had somebody violate our boundary telling us how we’re supposed think or feel or eat or dress, what kind of job we should have, or how we should spend our free time.
Some of us have parents like that–and we’re already parents ourselves. Some of us have spouses like that or friends or bosses or co-workers. These people–who really mean well–are confused over where they end and we begin.
The crazy thing about boundaries is when we let somebody cross them enough times, the lines start to blur or disappear all together. And then we cease to be an individual. We have a hard time even knowing what we like or don’t like, how we feel about an issue, or what we want to do with our own lives.
Who crosses your boundaries? Whose boundaries do you cross? Don’t know? It starts with awareness. Pick three people in your life that you see or speak to regularly. Evaluate how you feel when you are around them and ask yourself, “Are they more interested in drawing out the real me or are they trying to mold me into their idea of who I should be?”
For me, I have at least two people in my life that attempt to cross my boundaries regularly. The first I’ve been aware of for awhile and have done something about it. The other one is a little harder. I’ve only recently become aware of that uncomfortable feeling I get deep in my gut when they try to control me. It’s up to me to speak up and draw a line in the sand.
What about you? Without using names, I want to encourage you to share response to that question in the comments section below and state what you are going to do about it now that you are aware of it. Inaction is also a choice.
-K.
Read The Chasm Crosser.