Healthy Living

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No matter what segment of your life you are in, boundaries are a necessary part of your existence. Let’s take a walk through life and see how inclusion of this will help you:
Childhood Knowing your limits and what your parents expect from you is a part of growing up. Be honest, if you did exactly what you wanted all the time, would you ever get up on time, look your best, or even graduate? Parameters touch every part of life, but childhood is when it should begin to shape and mold you into the person you will one day become.

Adolescence What time would you come home at night if there were no boundaries and expectations for you? How well would you do in school and other phases of your life? Would you ever want to get a job and be on your own? Limits can seem restrictive but they help us to slow down and take a look at what we are doing hopefully before it is too late. How fast would you drive your first car without the speed limit signs being there?

College and beyond Would you get to class on time or to a job when you were supposed to without the time limits set up for that purpose? How could an instructor teach or a workplace function if everyone came to school or work when they felt like it?. The professor or boss could use this same reasoning and not give your grades or paycheck on time.

Middle Age Let’s say you bought a house in this phase of your life? Even though you were making the payments on time and paying your taxes as you should, the bank decides it is going to foreclose on you inspite of your good record. Laws are in place to keep this from happening. How would society function without rules? A person could break into your home or assault you on the street and when you called for help, they’d say “Sorry, we don’t arrest people anymore.”

Seniors If you don’t set limits here, you can be taken advantage of in many ways. Con artists are out there dreaming of ways to bilk you out of your money if you let them. Relatives and friends can take advantage financially also, so you have to set boundaries that will help you control how much goes out, and whether it ever comes back again. Self-limitation or discipline is also needed if you tend to gamble too much or use money in other ways that can make you miserable later on. One of the main addictions in our area is gambling according to the leading addictionists. One lady called me on the prayer line, late one night, crying. She had used her rent money to gamble and lost it. I couldn’t do much for her except pray and encourage her to give up her habit.

You don’t need to be legalistic in your setting of boundaries, but what you do set, stick with them at all costs. Sit down with a trusted friend or relative and brainstorm these ideas and others. If you stick with what you have done in this area, you will have a much better and happier life. As Robert Browning put it, “the last of life for which the first was made.”

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